The first Andorran bank to obtain a license as a securities company in PanamaThe Crèdit Andorrà Group has obtained a license from the Panamanian financial securities markets’ regulatory body, the CMV, to operate through Crèdit Andorrà Panamá Securities. This subsidiary will be gearing its services towards brokerage and financial assessment.The Creation of Crèdit Andorrà Panamá Securities means another step in the internationalization of the Crèdit Andorrà Group in Latin America. It is thereby consolidating its international expansion process by being present now in countries such as Spain, Switzerland, Luxembourg y and Panama.This new company has been launched 8 months after the opening of Crèdit Andorrà (Panamá), which is especially dedicated to asset management, financial services, and global consultancy. The guarantees given by a politically stable democratic country with an economy tied to the dollar and a well regulated and supervised International Central Bank, with over 90 banks and 46 securities companies (locally known as securities “houses”) enable Crèdit Andorrà to continue working and growing in a reliable financial environment with a good reputation.Crèdit Andorrà Panamà Securities is a securities company that has been created to provide brokerage services and financial consultancy. It will be able to carry out its activity on the local market and also open up its portfolio of clients on the international market, providing tailor-made consultancy based on knowledge of the markets and prioritizing the Group’s own set of values, such as trust, reliability and being completely client-oriented. The new entity shall be regulated and supervised by the CNV (financial securities markets’ regulatory body), the highest Panamanian authority, and shall answer to the Panamanian Economics and Finances Ministry.Its offices are located next to Crèdit Andorrà (Panama), in Panama’s pretty financial district of Punta Pacífica, in the emblematic Torre De Las Américas building.The Crèdit Andorrà Group is headed by the Crèdit Andorrà bank, which was created in 1949. It is the top financial group in the Principality of Andorra.Crèdit Andorrà is recognized as one of the most solvent and well managed banks in the world. It enjoys excellent ratings (a long term rating of “A”, with stable outlook, according to Fitch Ratings 23/12/2008) and other international acknowledgements such as The Banker’s award as the best bank in Andorra, which it has obtained for six out of the last seven years.The group is made up of different companies geared towards covering different business spheres such as insurance and asset management on an international level. Other stakeholding companies also form part of the Group, noteworthy among which there is Grandvalira i Caldea in the tourist sector and Crèdit Iniciatives in the development/capital sector. Significant socially responsible work is carried out through the Crèdit Andorrà Foundation in the areas of education, social aid programs and culture.The Group’s net consolidated result in 2008 came to 85 million euros, and the total volume of business reached 11,715 million euros. The solvency and liquidity ratios were at 20.37% and 70.08% respectively, far above the established legal minimums
