Chilean financial group Inverlink plans to file for a banking license before year-end with a view to opening a bank in 2003.
The bank will focus on middle-class individuals and small-and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).
Inverlink president Eduardo Monasterio was quoted as saying: "To gain time we will use the [financial] information from September. When we have submitted the information the regulator has 180 days to make up its mind," he said in reference to the group's efforts to speed up its entry into the local banking market.
Inverlink has also expressed interest in acquiring Banco Sudameris in Chile after its Italian owner IntesaBci announced earlier this year it was leaving Latin America. Monasterio said the group has not ruled out a deal with IntesaBci, but Inverlink would still need to obtain a banking licence from the regulator.
