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100 Years of Progress in Brazil

April 27, 2015
Priscilla Cortezze, Citi Public Affairs Officer, Brazil

This month, Citi celebrates its hundredth year in Brazil. Citi, showing its determination to be a global partner to its clients, arrived in Brazil a century ago in order to better support its US clients who were expanding their businesses into Brazil.

Citi's successful partnership with Brazil started on April 5th, 1915, when the National City Bank of New York opened its first branch in Rio de Janeiro, the capital of the country at the time, with a sub-branch in Santos, in order to be in close proximity to the city's port. This was the second branch installed by Citibank outside the United States, after Buenos Aires in Argentina. The same year, Citi also opened its first branch in São Paulo.

Citi's history in Brazil is closely linked with the country's progress. The bank worked with large families who started the industrialization movement in São Paulo, supported foreign and multinational companies that came to Brazil, and financed large infrastructure projects, such as the Itaipu, Tucuruí and São Simão hydro plants; the international airports of São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro; the São Paulo metro; the petrochemical plants of Bahia and Rio Grande do Sul; the Immigrants Highway (which links São Paulo to Santos); the Rio-Niterói bridge and the expansion of telephone lines all over the country.

Through the years, we have contributed to the progress of both our clients and Brazil, and we've built many successful stories through the dedication and hard work of a great team made up of many talented people, all of whom left their mark and wrote their own stories at Citi.

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