BCI sponsored the bank's creation with French partners on , when the new venture took over the activities of the prior , established in 1900 in
São Paulo and controlled by BCI since 1906. The context was France's ambition to develop its influence in South America, and BCI's desire to expand its access to the French financial market and leverage the rapid growth of Italian immigrant communities in South American countries. The initial ownership structure included BCI (43.3 percent), the
Banque de Paris et des Pays-Bas (BPPB, 17.6 percent),
Société Générale (13.2 percent), and others. The bank was established from the outset at 12, rue Halévy, a prestigious building across street from the
Palais Garnier, originally erected in 1863. In 2010 the former Sudameris
banking hall there was repurposed to host an
Apple Store. After
World War I, BCI became the bank's majority shareholder with 65 percent equity ownership. The bank's governance remained a matter of French-Italian compromise, however, with a French chairman and Italian chief executive based in Paris. By 1939, the bank had branches in
Brazil (São Paulo,
Rio de Janeiro,
Santos,
Bahia,
Curitiba,
Porto Alegre,
Recife, plus 19 agencies in smaller areas),
Argentina (
Buenos Aires and
Rosario),
Chile (
Santiago and
Valparaíso),
Colombia (
Bogotá,
Barranquilla and
Medellín), and
Uruguay (
Montevideo). By then it had branches in Argentina, Chile,
Panama, Uruguay, the United States, as well as
Monaco and
Grand Cayman, and subsidiaries in Brazil, Colombia and Paraguay. In 1995 it formed Banco Sudameris Argentina SA from what had been until then separate local branches. In 1998, Sudameris Brazil acquired
Banco América do Sul, founded by Japanese immigrants in 1944. In 1999, Sudameris Peru acquired both and
Banco Wiese. In 2000, Sudameris Argentina absorbed
Banco Caja de Ahorro. Following the merger of BCI with
Banca Intesa in 2000, the new group Intesa BCI decided to leave the South American market and refocus its activity on Europe. In 2003, Sudameris Argentina was sold to
Banco Patagonia; Sudameris Brazil was sold to
Banco Real, later part of
Santander Brasil; and Sudameris Colombia was sold to the
Gilinski Group before merging in 2005 with
Banco Tequendama to form .
CFM Indosuez Wealth Management bought the Sudameris Monaco branch in 2004. In 2006,
Scotiabank acquired
Banco Wiese Sudameris, the product of merger between
Banco de Lima Sudameris and Banco Wiese, and rebranded it as Scotiabank Peru. The remaining French banking operations of Sudameris were acquired in 2003 by
ABN AMRO from
Banca Intesa. The parent entity thus became a mere asset management company, which was eventually sold to
Crédit Agricole in 2006. ==Banco GNB Sudameris (Colombia)==