Banco Itaú Corpbanca

History

In 1871, a group of neighbors from Concepción led by Aníbal Pinto, who would later become President of Chile, drew up the by-laws of Banco de Concepción. The Bank began business on October 6, 1871 and has continued operating uninterrupted until today, which makes it the oldest bank in Chile. Following nationalization of private banking in 1971, the ownership of the Bank changed and came under the control of CORFO. That same year, Banco de Concepción acquired the local interests of Banco Francés and Italiano, which provided the institution presence in Santiago.

Later, in 1972, the bank purchased Banco de Chillán and, in 1975, Banco de Valdivia. In November 1975, CORFO sold shares to private businessmen who took control of the bank the following year. After a period of growth, in 1980 Banco de Concepción was redefined as a nationwide bank; it changed its name to Banco Concepción and moved its headquarters from Concepción to Santiago.

In 1986 the National Mining Society (SONAMI) acquired the Bank and took special interest in financing small and medium-scale mining projects, increased its capital and sold its riskier portfolio to the Central Bank. In late 1995, SONAMI sold the majority of its shareholding in the Bank to a group of investors led by Álvaro Saieh, through the holding company INFISA (now Corp Group). In 2014 the bank merged with Banco Itaú Chile, and was renamed to Itaú Corpbanca.

Following the Corp Group acquisition

Since the acquisition, the shareholders defined a new strategy; restructuring and repositioning its business in order to compete with Chile's leading institutions. To promote growth, the controlling group redefined the Bank's objectives making its target market personal financing and developing products for the middle-income population and small and medium-sized companies.