Banco de Crédito e Inversiones (BCI) in the successful regulatory approvals and in the closing of the USD946.9 million acquisition of City National Bank of Florida, the second largest bank in Miami.

November, 2015 - Santiago, Chile

Banco de Crédito e Inversiones (BCI) in the successful regulatory approvals and in the closing of the USD946.9 million acquisition of City National Bank of Florida, the second largest bank in Miami.

The cross-border acquisition required various filings for approvals before US, Spanish and Chilean regulatory authorities. As local counsel to BCI, Carey assisted BCI and its controlling shareholders throughout the +2-year approval process, entailing a corporate reorganization of BCI holding company and its affiliates; regulatory filings before the Chilean Superintendency of Banks and Financial Institutions, Superintendency of Securities and Insurance and the Chilean Central Bank, as well as the authorization required from the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System.

The deal demanded complex corporate restructurings (i.e., multiple mergers and spin-offs and the registration of two Chilean holding entities before the Chilean Superintendency of Securities and Insurance) and innovative legal analysis to overcome regulatory hurdles relating to the differences between US and Chilean supervision of bank holding companies.

On September 21, 2015 the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System granted an unprecedented authorization for BCI and its holding companies to acquire City National Bank of Florida, the very first authorization for a Chilean financial institution to acquire an American bank, paving the way for other Chilean financial institutions to follow BCI’s lead into the US banking arena.

Carey advised BCI through a team led by partner Francisco Ugarte and associate Eugenio González.

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