Geneva-based banking group Syz is setting up shop directly in Latin America for the first time. The company is planning to acquire competitors in the region.
What Syz announced in August is now official. The Geneva-based banking group is opening an office in Uruguay now that it received the necessary license from the local regulator, according to a statement Wednesday.
The local branch is the Syz family-owned financial boutique's response to growing customer demand and its intention to expand its presence in the region.
Miami Disillusionment
This is Syz's first location in Latin America with the group implementing what it planned in 2018. At the time the experience in Miami, Florida, where the firm took over an office with the purchase of the international private banking business of the Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) in 2015, had been sobering.
Four years ago, the bank was considering going directly onshore by making an acquisition in Brazil. It chose Uruguay instead.
Long-Time Manager Goes Onshore
The new Montevideo office is led by Rodolfo Rodriguez, who has been with the group since 2016, most recently as deputy head of Latin America. Based in Montevideo's Zonamerica Free Zone, Syz Wealth Management will focus on investment advisory services for offshore clients.
«Latin America is an area of historical importance for our group, and we want to be closer to our clients, both geographically and in terms of relationships,» said Nicolas Syz, the son of founder Eric Syz and head of private banking at the institution.
The bank plans to expand its Latin America presence in the coming years through the targeted acquisition of other financial service providers.
