In Brief: BankBoston Buying Uruguay Finance Firm

BankBoston Corp. has entered into an agreement to acquire OCA SA, a large credit card and consumer finance company in Uruguay.

No price has been disclosed for the deal, which is expected to close in the second quarter. OCA issues a proprietary credit card and a Visa credit card and has over 400,000 customers, according to BankBoston. The company operates out of 27 branches with some 700 employees. Last year BankBoston exited the national credit card business in the United States, but still plans to expand in Latin America. The bank first opened an office in Uruguay in 1976 and has around $700 million of assets and 14 branches.

BankBoston handles retail, middle-market, and corporate banking in Uruguay as well as private banking, mortgage lending, and trade-related services.

Other U.S. banks with offices in Uruguay are Republic New York Corp., Citicorp, and American Express Bank Ltd. Chase Manhattan Corp. also holds a 24% stake in Banco Comercial, one of Uruguay's largest banks.

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