Unibanco S.A. was a Brazilian bank which operated from 1924 to 2009, when it was merged into

Banco Itaú Banco Itaú S.A. was a Brazilian bank that merged with Unibanco on November 4, 2008, to form Itaú Unibanco, Banco Itaú Unibanco. History Banco Itaú began in 1945 under the name ''Banco Central de Crédito'' (Central Bank of Credit) and later ...

. The name stood for ''União de Bancos Brasileiros'' ("Union of Brazilian Banks").

Foundation

In 1924 João Moreira Salles established the Casa Bancária Moreira Salles (Moreira Salles Banking House) in the city of

Poços de Caldas Poços de Caldas is a Municipalities of Brazil, municipality in the south of Minas Gerais state, Brazil, in the microregion of the same name. Its estimated population in 2020 was 168,641 inhabitants. The city is known for its hot springs. Histor ...

, state of

Minas Gerais Minas Gerais () is one of the 27 federative units of Brazil, being the fourth largest state by area and the second largest in number of inhabitants with a population of 20,539,989 according to the 2022 Brazilian census, 2022 census. Located in ...

. His son Walter Moreira Salles was named an acting partner in 1933 at the young age of twenty-one.

Regional mergers

During 1940, Banco Moreira Salles catalyzed its growth by merging with three regional banks, eventually changing its name to União de Bancos Brasileiros (Unibanco).

Acquisition of Banco Nacional

In time its headquarters moved to

São Paulo São Paulo (; ; Portuguese for 'Paul the Apostle, Saint Paul') is the capital of the São Paulo (state), state of São Paulo, as well as the List of cities in Brazil by population, most populous city in Brazil, the List of largest cities in the ...

, in the homonymous state, Brazil's largest 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.

Listed, family controlled, company

Even though its shares were listed on the São Paulo Stock Exchange (Bovespa), the bank 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 An ambassador is an official envoy, especially a high-ranking diplomat who represents a state and is usually accredited to another sovereign state or to an international organization as the resident representative of their own government or so ...

to the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, as well as Brazilian Finance Minister - headed the family. After 2006, his son Pedro Moreira Salles served as the company's

Chief Executive Officer A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a chief executive or managing director, is the top-ranking corporate officer charged with the management of an organization, usually a company or a nonprofit organization. CEOs find roles in variou ...

and Vice Chairman of the Board.

Merger with Banco Itaú

On November 2, 2008, Unibanco and the second largest Brazilian private banking group,

, announced plans for a

merger Mergers and acquisitions (M&A) are business transactions in which the ownership of a company, business organization, or one of their operating units is transferred to or consolidated with another entity. They may happen through direct absorpt ...

. The merger was approved by the

Central Bank of Brazil The Central Bank of Brazil (, ) is Brazil's central bank, the bank is autonomous in exercising its functions, and its main objective is to achieve stability in the purchasing power of the national currency. It was established on Thursday, 31 Dece ...

in late February 2009. As a result of the merger process, Unibanco agencies became new Itaú agencies by the end of 2010, and the Itaú name became the strongest brand in the Brazilian private sector banking market. The defunct bank's name survives in the new merged bank's holding company, which became '' Itaú Unibanco Holding S.A.'' However, only the Itaú brand is now used in the bank's corporate image.

References

External links

*Official site
unibanco.com.br
now automatically forwarded t
www.itau.com.br
Itaú Unibanco Banks established in 1924 Banks disestablished in 2008 Defunct banks of Brazil {{Brazil-company-stub