Unibanco

Unibanco - União de Bancos Brasileiros S.A.

Former type	Subsidiary
Industry	Finance and Insurance
Founded	Poços de Caldas, Brazil (1924)
Defunct	2008
Headquarters	São Paulo, Brazil
Key people	João Moreira Salles, Founder Pedro Moreira Salles CEO Pedro Malan, Member of the Board of Directors
Products	Banking
Revenue	US$ 19.3 Billion (2007)
Net income	US$ 2.1 Billion (2007)
Total assets	US$ 102.6 Billion (2007)
Employees	51.300
Parent	Itaú Unibanco
Website	www.unibanco.com.br

Unibanco stands for União de Bancos Brasileiros (Union of Brazilian Banks). The bank was born in 1924 in Poços de Caldas in the state of Minas Gerais. In time its headquarters moved to São Paulo, Brazil's financial center. Unibanco grew to be the third largest non-government bank in the country, largely due to the 1995 acquisition of Banco Nacional, which went bankrupt alongside other major financial houses during the national banking meltdown of the early years of the Real Plan.

Though its shares were listed on the São Paulo Stock Exchange (Bovespa), it was largely controlled by its founding Moreira Salles family. Until his death in 2001, Walter Moreira Salles - a renowned banker and diplomat, who served as Brazilian ambassador to Britain as well as Finance Minister - headed the family. After 2006, his son Pedro Moreira Salles served as the company's Chief Executive Officer and Vice Chairman of the Board.

Unibanco branch in Natal, Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil, carrying the bank's former branding.

On November 2, 2008, Unibanco and the second largest Brazilian private banking group, Banco Itaú, announced plans for a merger. The merger was approved by the Central Bank of Brazil in late February 2009. With the merger process, agencies Unibanco became the new Itaú agencies by the end of 2010, leaving only the Itaú brand to be the strongest brand in the market.

External links

• Official site (unibanco.com.br)