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Banco Espírito Santo was created in 1937 by the merger of "Banco Comercial de Lisboa" and "Banco Espírito Santo". Nationalised in 1975, it became fully privatised in 1992 under the control of Espírito Santo Group. Through its vast international network, BES can quickly and efficiently meet the needs of its customers, focusing on the needs of Portuguese emigrants around the world. Its network consists of 460 domestic branches, Foreign Offices (London and New York) and 9 Representatives Offices (Caracas, Cologne, Johannesburg, Lausanne, Milan, Newark, Toronto, S. Paulo and Shanghai). In the area of offshore banking, BES has branches in Cayman, Nassau and Madeira. On the international front, BES operates wholly owned banks in Spain (Banco Espírito Santo SA), France (BES Vénétie), Ireland (Espírito Santo PLC), Angola (BES Angola), Macau (BES Oriente), Brazil (BESI) and USA (ES Bank Florida). As part of its strategy of building up an integrated financial group, BES has taken major holdings in a number of banks and companies, including: Banco Internacional de Crédito (commercial, mortgage and private banking); Companhia de Seguros Tranquilidade (largest Portuguese insurance company); BES Leasing (top leasing company in Portugal; Banco Espírito Santo de Investimento (leading investment bank); ESAF (mutual and fund holding company dedicated to securities and property), and other companies undertaking a wide range of business activities. |
