After having recorded losses in its capital ratio and a negative variation in its profits in the line of more than S/110 million in 2023, Caja Sullana was officially separated from the financial system by the Superintendency of Banking, Insurance and AFP (SBS), and its clients will be absorbed from today by one of its competitors to guarantee the intangibility of funds.
It was a scheduled closure. According to SBS, Caja Sullana was intervened after “showing an accelerated deterioration of its solvency” and incurring in the cause established in numeral 4 of article 104 of the General Law of the Financial System and the Insurance System and Organic Law of the SBS – Law No. 26702.
However, all the banks were aware of the impending bankruptcy. La República had already warned last April that one of the factors that precipitated losses for players in 2023 had been the growth in financial expenses and, especially, expenses for loan portfolio provisions.
The high interest rates offered by municipal savings banks to raise funds and place products, such as fixed-term deposits, ended up undermining their track record. Caja Sullana began 2024 with a drop in profits of S/8.7 million in January alone.
“Those of us who are in the municipal savings bank system saw it coming. It was unsustainable. Accumulated losses of S/240 million over more than two years and assets that were reduced by more than 50%,” revealed a source consulted by La República.
Chronicle of a merger
Jorge Mogrovejo, deputy superintendent of Banking and Microfinance at the SBS, explained that if no offer is submitted today that meets the conditions, a second competition will be held and the tender will be opened to other entities, such as financial institutions and banks; however, the Peruvian Federation of Municipal Savings and Credit Funds (Fepcmac) hopes that everything will remain in the family.
Jorge Solís, president of Fepcmac, clarifies that this is not a “liquidation”, but rather the “absorption” and “consolidation” of the clients of one of its members by another fund. Therefore, it is not appropriate for any of the 909,602 natural persons with accounts in Sullana – SBS figures as of May 31, 2024 – to resort to the Deposit Insurance Fund (FSD), because their money will not be lost and will only be moved to another entity.
“There have been circumstances that affected the north of the country, where the fund’s portfolio is concentrated. The pandemic, social conflict, political issues and the recession deteriorated their situation,” Solís assured.
The savings banks in a position to assume Sullana’s liabilities and assets are Cusco, Arequipa, Huancayo and Piura. Solís rules out a run, but admits that clients were not notified in advance to prevent their flight.
“Everything was planned, but people were alarmed by something we know as a financial holiday. By Monday it should be resolved. We wanted to avoid speculation,” he declared to this newspaper.
The Raíz, TFC and Pisco savings banks were liquidated earlier. In the case of Señor de Luren, the entity was transferred and the clients went to Caja Arequipa (there was no refund of the FSD). The situation in Sullana is different, but not so far from that of other banks in trouble in the system, such as Tacna and Caja del Santa.
At the time of its closure, Caja Sullana occupied S/1,864 million of the total of S/30,714 million of deposits in the savings bank system, while its loans reached S/2,063 million of the total of S/36,246 million placed.
Source: Larepublica
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