Banco Leon born out of merger

The Dominican Republic's newest bank, Banco Leon, was officially launched on Tuesday night following the merger of Banco Profesional and Bancredito, newspapers reported. The local Leon family - owners of Banco Profesional as well as important brewing and tobacco concerns - acquired Bancredito in June this year after it was subject to a run on deposits. Bancredito had 47 branches, 12 representation offices and 165 ATMs. The rebranding of Banco Profesional should be finished in a few months, according to local daily Hoy. The new financial group born from the merger, Grupo Profesional Bancredito, also owns a credit card unit Bancredicard, leasing company Compania Nacional de Arrendamiento, and brokerage house Puesto de Bolsa Acciones y Valores. The Dominican banking system was hard hit by the intervention of local bank Baninter earlier this year on fraud charges. The Baninter scandal rocked the financial community to its foundations and prompted the government to seek support from multilateral lenders.