Itaúsa - Who we are

Itaúsa was founded to centralize the financial and strategic decisions of a group of companies and give them better conditions to expand. Itaúsa operates in the financial and industrial areas and also manages large institutions of a social nature.

The history of the Group began with the first investment bank to be founded in Brazil. It was called Banco Federal Itaú de Investimentos S.A. and was created on May 6, 1966, shortly after the Brazilian Central Bank gave permission for this kind of activity. It was a limited liability listed company which would take stakes or make loans in the medium and long term to provide fixed or variable capital by investing its own resources, as well as in the raising, intermediation and investment of resources of third parties, and other activities which the monetary authorities had given approval to.

In November 1970, it changed its official name to Banco Itaú de Investimento S.A. and in May 1973 to Banco Itaú Português de Investimento S.A. It expanded its operations into the specific areas of investment banking. At the same time it accumulated a large equity portfolio and became a substantial shareholder in a number of Itaú´s financing institutions. As these institutions grew, it became a complex task for Banco Itaú Português de Investimento S.A. to maintain its bipolar approach to its operations, both as the holding company of the group and as an investment bank.

As a result, it reformulated its objectives and ceased its investment bank activities in order to become the leading company within the Instituições Financeiras Itaú, a holding company which at that time grouped more than 50 companies. Approval was given at the General Meeting held on December 9, 1974 for the name to be changed to Investimentos Itaú S.A. The business objective was to provide support to private Brazilian companies in which it had a capital share.

At a General Meeting held on April 30, 1991, the official name was changed to Itaúsa - Investimentos Itaú S.A. The name Itaúsa - Investimentos Itaú was adopted from 1991, thereby incorporating the "Itaúsa" tag which the market valued.

The main companies which Itaúsa controls are leaders in their business areas: Itaú Unibanco Banco Múltiplo S.A. and its subsidiaries Itaú Unibanco and Banco Itaú BBA in the financial segment and Duratex, Itautec and Elekeiroz, leaders in their respective industrial areas.

As a listed pure holding company, Itaúsa concentrates all its financial and strategic decisions on providing the companies within the Group with the best condition to operate and expand their business. As a result, the subsidiaries have achieved high levels of productivity, employee training and technological breakthroughs to constantly improve the products and services they offer to the market.

This model also ensures that the principles which guide the holding company are also practiced by the Group companies. Appreciating human capital, ethics in business and value creation for the shareholders are the unquestionable values which direct the work of more than 108,000 employees of Itaúsa and its subsidiaries.

The way in which Itaúsa develops and manages each of its businesses was reflected once again in the excellent results the Conglemerate obtained in 3Q2011. From January to September of  2011, shareholders´ equity amounted to R$ 31.3 billion and it had assets of R$ 301.5 billion. Net income in the period came to R$ 3.9 billion with a return on average shareholders´ equity of 17.3% (values in IFRS).

On November 3, 2008, Itaú and Unibanco signed the agreement for the merger of their financial operations. It was the formal beginning of the building of the largest conglomerate in the Southern Hemisphere, with a market value among the 20 largest financial institutions in the world.

Itaú Unibanco made available to its customers a checking account exclusively for use in electronic channels of Itaú bank. The iConta lets you perform transactions over the Internet, telephone (electronic service), mobile phones, IPAD and ATMs, so limitless and free.

Itaú Banco Unibanco was elected the Most Sustainable Bank in the World in 2011 (FT / IFC Sustainable Finance Awards), awarded by the Financial Times and the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the financial arm of the World Bank, one of the world's most important awards in the sustainability area.

For the eighth consecutive year, Itaú brand was recognized as the most valuable in Brazil by the Interbrand consultancy, a pioneer in the development of the method of brand valuation, estimated at R$ 24.3 billion. In May, Itaú also figured for the first time in the BrandZ ranking, which highlights the 100 most valuable brands in the world, figuring in the 90th position.

Itau BBA has opened a representative office in Peru in January, thus enhancing the commercial service to its customers outside Brazil.

Itau Unibanco has also been selected - and the 12th consecutive time - to compose the portfolio of the Dow Jones Sustainability World Index (DJSI), edition 2011/2012, was the only Latin American bank to participate in the composition of the index since its creation. At issue, Itaú Unibanco reached the highest score (100%) sector in the categories "Human Capital Development" and "Business Risks / Project Finance", and was the highest score (98%) in the category "Policies / Actions anticrime and fraud. "

Other events marked the period, including the beginning of the expansion of Itaú Uniclass services for all customers of that retailer concentrate their financial relationship in the Bank, and the acquisition of 25,470,900 shares to treasury at an average price of R$ 29,14, in the third quarter (in the year, were acquired 40,970,900 treasury shares at an average price of R$ 31.69), supported by your program approved on November 1st  2010.

In Chile, Itaú Unibanco signed an agreement with Munita, Cruzat & Light (MCC) to create a new company that aims to jointly develop the Private Bank business in that country. The new company will be controlled by Itaú Unibanco managed MCC, a company with more than 28 years of experience in the Chilean market.