Ecuador's Financial System Topic 22

click to edit

Traditionally, banks have taken over the

money from the public in exchange for an

interest. Due to the advance of commercial

operations and technology, the banking

sector has expanded to more complex

operations such as foreign currency exchange, equity investments of companies,

payments for collections, money transfers and virtual transfers.

Before the crisis of 1999, the financial centers were located in Guayaquil, today

they have moved mostly to Quito. The public banks remained unchanged. The

ones that grew were the cooperatives.

At the end of the first decade of the

21st century, the Pichincha Bank is

the most powerful institution in the

country with the largest asset

deposits and assets. They are

followed by the Guayaquil Bank,

Produbanco and Pacific Bank. As for cooperatives, the geographical distribution

is more homogeneous in the provinces, both coastal and mountain. However,

there is some more concentration in the Pichincha.

Between the year 1999 and 2000, the guarantee system for public deposits in

financial institutions was very incipient. For this reason, when the financial crisis

occurred in Ecuador and the credit was given to private banks, through public

institutions