Victor Vargas

Last updated
Victor Vargas
Victor Vargas evento BOD cropped.jpg
Victor Vargas Irausquin, vice-president of Banco Occidental de Descuento (BOD)
Born
Víctor José Vargas Irausquín

(1952-03-28) 28 March 1952 (age 72)
Chacao, Caracas, Venezuela
Education Andrés Bello Catholic University
OccupationBanker
Spouses
Carmen Leonor Santaella Tellería
​
​
(m. 1976;div. 2013)​
María Beatriz Hernández Rodríguez
​
​
(m. 2014;div. 2019)​
Children5, including Marie Marguerite, Duchess of Anjou
Relatives Louis Alphonse, Duke of Anjou (son-in-law)

Victor Vargas (born 28 March 1952) is a Venezuelan banker and businessman, best known for being the former owner and president of the now defunct 14th largest private bank in Venezuela, Banco Occidental de Descuento.

Contents

Early life

Victor Vargas was born into a middle class family in the municipality of Chacao, city of Caracas, Venezuela. His mother was the first woman to serve on the Supreme Court of Venezuela. [1] His father was a doctor. [1] He earned his law degree at Andrés Bello Catholic University. [2]

Career

Vargas started his career as a lawyer. [3]

In the 1980s, he acquired 2% of CapitalBanc Corp., a bank based in New York City. [1] The bank was closed down in the early 1990s after authorities discovered fraud involving Vargas. He was charged and accused of fraud. [1] He is quoted describing the venture as "the worst business" of his life. [1] He shared his experience in October 2007 when he moderated a panel on corporate governance at a Miami conference of the Florida International Bankers Association and the Latin American Banks Federation. [1]

In 1992 he sold a small bank he founded and owned. [1] He used those funds a year later, in 1993, to buy Banco Occidental de Descuento, based in the oil-rich state of Zulia. [1] Many of his clients are oil investors. [1] Another form of revenue comes from purchasing sovereign debt bonds and re-selling them for profit to investors. [1] As of 2015, it was the 14th largest private bank in Venezuela. [4] He serves as its Vice-President. [5]

Victor Vargas presenting BOD's results and plans Victor Vargas presentacion BOD.jpg
Victor Vargas presenting BOD's results and plans

Economic alliances

In 2014, Vargas and BOD partnered with American Express to provide a new credit product for microentrepreneurs. Microentrepreneurs provide for 15 percent of the Venezuelan economy. [6]

Vargas and BOD’s goal was to expand the American Express card to 300,000 cardholders with access to 46,000 businesses by 2013. The card would offer a 4-year rotating term financing option. [7]

National financial leadership

In 2010, overall profitability on bank assets in Venezuela fell to 9.7 percent from 20.5 percent in 2009. Venezuelan bankers were concerned that the Venezuelan Central Bank had not changed commission tariffs in over five years. Vargas served as the leader of the National Bank Board and led discussions with the Superintendencia de Bancos. Vargas proposed that the Central Bank create new requirements for giving loans to strategic sectors as opposed to the then-current law requiring compulsory loan portfolios. [8]

Relations with Bolivarian government

Mr. Vargas, a dapper, meticulous man, is thriving without even a nod to
Mr. Chavez's socialist nostrums.

— The Wall Street Journal [9]

Vargas and his bank were not successful before Chavez became president of Venezuela. He later helped the Chávez administration raise funds to finance Venezuela's budget. According to the United States Department of State, Vargas was "said to have made a profit off those negotiations" and was described as "a banker whose star has risen greatly during the Chávez presidency". [10] Vargas is alleged to have made background deals with the Chávez government, [11] those close to Vargas denied that he had received special treatment from Chávez. [11] [12]

In 2008, Vargas' bank, Banco Occidental de Descuento (BOD), agreed to buy Banco de Venezuela from its then-owner, Spanish bank Banco Santander. Vargas and his bank officials met with the appropriate finance officials in the Venezuelan government, and the officials approved the purchase. Vargas's BOD then put a $700 million down payment toward the purchase. Soon after, President Hugo Chavez went on national TV and announced he was pushing BOD aside and buying the bank himself, on behalf of the Venezuelan government. BOD lost the $700 million deposit. Banco Santander refused to refund it. A Spanish court ordered the refund, but Spain's equivalent of the Supreme Court overturned that order. [13] Through it all, a 2008 Wall Street Journal article characterized Vargas and Venezuela's other wealthy elites as having "durability...no matter who is in power." [9] Vargas was later assisted by the Venezuelan government for abiding by their policies during the Venezuelan banking crisis of 2009–10, when more than a half-dozen competing private banking institutions were closed. [10]

Vargas's survival strategy, he says, is to remain "agnostic about politics": "A businessman has to deal with his government, no matter how far to the right or left it is". [1]

In May 2013, it was alleged that Vargas purchased Cadena Capriles, [14] with its criticism of the Venezuelan government declining afterward. [15]

BOD Financial Group

Vargas owns BOD Financial Group (Spanish: Grupo Financiero BOD), an umbrella company that owns Vargas's businesses. BOD Financial owns companies in three major market sectors: banking, capital markets, and insurance. [16]

Philanthropy and civic activities

In 2011, Vargas launched the Entrepreneur Program, a non-profit organization that helps people start small businesses. The program targets entrepreneurs who are not able to get funding from traditional banking sources. In its first phase in July 2011, the program selected and trained 100 entrepreneurs. [17] The program provides funding for cultural and educational initiatives targeted at disadvantaged communities. Since 2002, the program has invested $20 million in these initiatives. For example, the program funded the National Youth Orchestra of Chacao, which is conducted by the famous maestro José Antonio Abreu. [18]

As head of the Banking Association of Venezuela, Vargas helped initiate an energy-saving programmed called “Efficient Consumption.” The program calls for companies to install renewable energy technologies at their headquarters buildings. Vargas called on private banks to take charge on spreading the word of the program. [19]

The Enclave Foundation runs a free "Music for All" program that teaches music to over 6,000 public school children. Music for All has run for over 20 years. Children in grades kindergarten through grade school can participate. [20] [21] [22] [23]

Help the Lake" provides resources to study and protect Lake Maracaibo. [20] [21] [22] [23]

Awards

On June 23, 2015, Vargas was named "Latin America Entrepreneur of the Year" by business magazine The Executive. Concepción Dancausa, one of Spain's delegates to the European Union’s Committee of the Regions, personally gave the award to Vargas at a ceremony in Marid. According to Latin Business Daily, Vargas received the award "for his leadership role in driving economic growth, job creation, and expansion of wealth in Latin America." [24]

Polo

Vargas co-owns and plays left bench for Lechuza Caracas, a polo club and team. [25] [26] [27]

On September 1, 2015, Vargas told The Telegraph that he was planning to start a league in the Dominican Republic. Recently, Vargas had moved the headquarters of his club from England to Spain. When asked why, he explained the decision was simple: the rain. "We've played for five weeks here in Spain and had no rain." [28]

On June 21, 2009, twenty-one of his horses died suddenly during a polo tournament in Palm Beach, Florida. [29] The Lechuza Argentine captain, Juan Martín Nero believed the cause to be tainted Biodyl, a vitamin supplement given to horses to ward off exhaustion, as five of the horses that did not receive it were unaffected. [30] Lechuza was runner-up in the 2009 CV Whitney Cup and won the Cup in 2011. [31]

Personal life

He was married to Carmen Leonor Santaella Tellería, [32] with whom he had two daughters and one son:

They divorced in 2002. Vargas remarried to María Beatriz Hernández later that year. [39] They have two children:

He owns two houses. [1] One of his houses is in Caracas; another one is in La Guaira. [1] In 2009, he purchased George Lindemann's mansion in Palm Beach, Florida for US$5.7 million. [40] He also owns a plane and a 40' sailboat named "El Gran Guizo". [1] He flies his own Cessna Citation 500. [1]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bolivarian Revolution</span> 21st-century political process in Venezuela

The Bolivarian Revolution is an ongoing political process in Venezuela that was started by Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez, the founder of the Fifth Republic Movement and later the United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV), and his successor Nicolás Maduro. The Bolivarian Revolution is named after Simón Bolívar, an early 19th-century Venezuelan revolutionary leader, prominent in the Spanish American wars of independence in achieving the independence of most of northern South America from Spanish rule. According to Chávez and supporters, the Bolivarian Revolution seeks to build an inter-American coalition to implement Bolivarianism, nationalism and a state-led economy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Globovisión</span> 24-hour television news network

Globovisión is a 24-hour television news network. It broadcasts over-the-air in Caracas, Aragua, Carabobo and Zulia on UHF channel 33. Globovisión is seen in the rest of Venezuela on cable or satellite and worldwide from their website. Some of Globovisión's programs can be seen in the United States on cable network Canal Sur and TV Venezuela, a channel offered in DirecTV's Para Todos package. In Latin America, Globovision can be seen in Argentina, Colombia, Chile, Ecuador, Peru, Uruguay and other territories as Aruba, Trinidad and Tobago, Barbados and Curaçao in DirecTV's package.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">María Margarita Vargas Santaella</span> Duchess of Anjou

Princess Marie-Marguerite of Bourbon, Duchess of Anjou is a Venezuelan heiress and wife of Prince Louis, Duke of Anjou, who is considered by Legitimists to be the rightful king of France, making her the queen consort of France and Navarre.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bank of the South</span> South American monetary fund and lending organization

The Bank of the South or BancoSur is a monetary fund and lending organization established on 26 September 2009 by Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay, Ecuador, Bolivia and Venezuela with promises of initial capital of US$20 billion. Argentina, Venezuela, and Brazil were to have each pledged $4 billion, and Uruguay, Ecuador, Paraguay and Bolivia were to have contributed smaller amounts. The bank intended to lend money to nations in the Americas to construct social programs and infrastructure. Documents establishing the bank as an entity were signed in 2007, and the agreement between the countries was finalized in 2009, but as of 2016, the bank had not been capitalized.

Eligio Cedeño is a, president of CEDEL Group, Venezuela. He is in the United States, having been released on bail from charges in Venezuela of circumventing government currency rules to gain U.S. dollars. Over the next year prosecutors repeatedly failed to turn up for court dates, leading to accusations that the case was being strung out due to a lack of evidence. The United Nations' Working Group on Arbitrary Detention in September 2009 declared Cedeño's detention arbitrary partly as a result, and judge María Lourdes Afiuni would release him on this basis. Due to her decision to free Cedeño, Judge Afiuni was herself jailed.

Bolibourgeoisie or Bolichicos are terms describing the new bourgeois created by the Venezuelan government of Hugo Chávez and Chavismo, made up of people who became rich under the Chávez administration. The term was coined by journalist Juan Carlos Zapata to "define the oligarchy that has developed under the protection of the Chávez government".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Banco de Venezuela</span> Public bank in Venezuela

Banco de Venezuela is an international universal bank based in Caracas. It was the market leader in Venezuela until 2007, when it fell to third place, with an 11.3% market share for deposits; its major competitors are Banesco, Banco Mercantil and BBVA Banco Provincial. As of June 2008, it had 285 branches in Venezuela.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Banco Nacional de Crédito</span>

The Banco Nacional de Crédito (BNC) is a financial institution Venezuelan with private capital specialized in universal banking. It is headquartered in the El Rosal sector of Caracas.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Banesco</span>

Banesco Banco Universal C.A. is a Venezuelan financial institution whose principal branch is located in Caracas. The bank is part of the Asociación Bancaria de Venezuela.

Banco Federal was a Venezuelan bank based in Caracas. At the end of April 2010 it was the country's 11th-largest bank, with deposits of 7.66 billion bolivars, or 2.82 percent of total deposits in the banking system. In June 2010 the bank was taken over by Venezuela's banking regulator. It had been told to expand its capital base by 1.5bn bolivars, and had only raised B100m. At least 12 other banks had been taken over since November 2009 after speculation about bank insolvency.

Lechuza Caracas is a Venezuelan polo club owned by the Venezuelan Victor Vargas, owner of Banco Occidental de Descuento. Lechuza reached the final of the 2009 CV Whitney Cup. Lechuza also "reached the U.S. Open final in 2003, according to the North American Polo League Web site. The team twice won C.V. Whitney Cup, competed in the finals of the 2002 Gold Cup, and in 2007, finished runner-up in the U.S. Gold Cup and won the English Gold Cup."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Banco Occidental de Descuento</span>

Banco Occidental de Descuento (BOD) (WDB) was a Venezuelan bank. With around 6.6% of the Venezuelan market, it was Venezuela's fifth-largest bank in 2009.

The 2009–2010 banking crisis occurred in Venezuela when a number of the banks of Venezuela were taken over by the government, after "the revelation that several banks owned by Hugo Chavez supporters were in financial trouble after engaging in questionable business practices. Some were seriously undercapitalized, others were apparently lending large sums of money to top executives, and at least one financier couldn't prove where he got the money to buy his banks in the first place." In November and December 2009 seven banks were taken over, accounting for around 12% of total deposits. In 2010 more banks were taken over. The government arrested at least 16 bankers and issued more than 40 corruption-related arrest warrants for others who had fled the country.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Julio Herrera Velutini</span> Venezuelan banker

Julio Martín Herrera Velutini is an Italian-Venezuelan billionaire businessman and founder of Britannia Financial Group. He comes from one of the 20 Mantuan families that ruled the city of Caracas since the 17th century and remains the largest landholder in Venezuela. The Herrera Velutini family helped establish the Central Bank of Venezuela, founded the Caracas Bank, and created an independent national currency. He is the Pater familias of a family fortune estimated at $1.8 billion.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">El Rosal, Caracas</span> Neighborhood of Caracas, Venezuela

El Rosal is a neighbourhood of Caracas, Venezuela, in the Chacao municipality. It is located at East Caracas, near the geographic center of Caracas and is one of its financial centres. It has an estimated area of 50.9 hectares

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Banco Sofitasa</span> Venezuelan universal bank

Banco Sofitasa is a Venezuelan universal bank based in San Cristóbal. Its primary market is in Barinas and the Andean Region and is the only bank in Venezuela with its main headquarters in the Andean region following the closure of Banfoandes. Banco Sofitasa can be found in 18 of Venezuela's 23 states.

Juan Carlos Escotet Rodríguez is a Spanish-Venezuelan billionaire banker and the founder of Banesco, the largest private financial institution in Venezuela. He is also CEO and shareholder (80 %) of Spanish bank Abanca, as well as president of Spanish football club Deportivo de La Coruña. As of March 2022, his reported net worth is estimated at US$3.5 billion.

José Grasso Vecchio is a Venezuelan lawyer, financial analyst, university professor, writer, former president of the Venezuelan Professional Baseball League, cofounder of Softline Consultores and Instituto Latinoamericano de Actualización Profesional. Grasso Vecchio is as CEO of Banesco Banco Universal.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">David Brillembourg</span> Venezuelan tycoon

Jorge David Brillembourg was a Venezuelan economist and businessman, president of Grupo Confinanzas, congressman deputy and main investor of Centro Financiero Confinanzas.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 John Lyons, Polo-Loving Banker Lives Really Large In Chávez Socialism: Venezuela's Mr. Vargas Has Yachts, and Good Timing; 'I've Been Rich All My Life', The Wall Street Journal , January 29, 2008
  2. ↑ "Víctor Vargas Recibe Premio "Empresario Latinoamericano De Referencia"". Banca & Negocios. 25 June 2015. Retrieved 29 June 2015.
  3. ↑ Tim Padgett, The Dead Polo Ponies and Their Millionaire Owner, Time , April 23, 2009
  4. ↑ El banco venezolano B.O.D.sube 24 puestos en el prestigioso ranking "Los 250 mayores bancos de América Latina", El Economista, April 20, 2015
  5. ↑ Alexandra Zendrian, Banking From A Venezuelan Perspective, Forbes , August 30, 2010
  6. ↑ "BOD lanzó tarjeta de crédito para pymes". El Nacional (in Spanish). Venezuela: NoticiasFinancieras/Grupo de Diarios America. 26 November 2014 – via Nexis.
  7. ↑ "Festejo". El Nacional (in Spanish). Venezuela: NoticiasFinancieras/Grupo de Diarios America. 19 May 2013 – via Nexis.
  8. ↑ "Venezuela: Mass fall in profitability on assets in first two months of 2010". El Universal. Venezuela: Esmerk Oy. 25 March 2010 – via Nexis.
  9. 1 2 Lyons, John (29 January 2008). "Polo-Loving Banker Lives Really Large In Chávez Socialism". Wall Street Journal . Caracas, Venezuela. Retrieved 29 September 2015.
  10. 1 2 Reyes, Gerardo; Ocando, Cato (4 August 2013). "Boliburgueses y el encanto del Imperio". Univision . Retrieved 15 April 2015.
  11. 1 2 Padgett, Tim (23 April 2009). "The Dead Polo Ponies and Their Millionaire Owner". Time . Retrieved 3 May 2017.
  12. ↑ "Venezuela Sees Chavez Friends Rich After His Death Amid Poverty". Bloomberg. 11 August 2014. Retrieved 29 September 2015.
  13. ↑ "The Demise of Venezuela's Banking System". The Bisignis Institute. Washington, D.C. Retrieved 24 June 2015.
  14. ↑ "Venta de Cadena Capriles causa especulaciones en Venezuela". El Economista (in Spanish). 4 June 2015. Retrieved 3 May 2017.
  15. ↑ Carrillo, Jessica. "This Newspaper's Headlines Have Become Too Much for Many Readers in Venezuela". Global Voices Online . Retrieved 18 January 2015.
  16. ↑ "BOD Financial Group harnesses opportunities in Latin America". World Finance. London, U.K.: World News Media. 8 September 2015. Retrieved 15 September 2015.
  17. ↑ "Entrepreneurship in Venezuela". CONAPRI. Retrieved 29 June 2015.
  18. ↑ Víctor Vargas
  19. ↑ "Gobierno negó que se impongan multas por consumo eléctrico". El Nacional (in Spanish). NoticiasFinancieras/Grupo de Diarios America. 29 June 2013 – via Nexis.
  20. 1 2 "BOD apoyó en 2014 a 3200 emprendedores venezolanos". Dinero.com. 11 March 2015. Retrieved 29 June 2015.
  21. 1 2 "Programa Talento Educativo BOD premia la excelencia académica". Informe21.com. 22 March 2015. Retrieved 29 June 2015.
  22. 1 2 "Fundación B.O.D. donó más de 445 mil bolívares al Hogar Clínica San Rafael en Maracaibo". Panorama.com.ve. 8 February 2015. Retrieved 29 June 2015.
  23. 1 2 "Fundación Enclave inició la Navidad con concierto en El Rosal". ElUniversal.com. 6 December 2014. Retrieved 29 June 2015.
  24. ↑ "Venezuela's Victor Vargas Awarded Latin America Entrepreneur of the Year". Latin Business Daily. 3 August 2015. Retrieved 3 September 2015.
  25. ↑ Good start for Lechuza in USPA Gold Cup, Polo Times , March 13, 2014
  26. ↑ Ed Pilkington, The strange case of the dead polo horses, The Guardian , April 24, 2009
  27. ↑ Andres Schipani, Polo players regroup in Venezuela after decline under Chávez, The Financial Times , June 13, 2014
  28. ↑ Davis, Gareth (1 September 2015). "Sotogrande Polo 2015: Adolfo Cambiaso and Dubai thrill in European season finale against Lechuza Caracas". The Telegraph. Retrieved 29 September 2015.
  29. ↑ Alejandra Ocampos, Exclusive interview with Victor Vargas, PQ International ,
  30. ↑ "The Dead Polo Ponies and Millionaire Owner". TIME. 23 April 2009. Retrieved 17 April 2015.
  31. ↑ "Lechuza Caracas wins Whitney Cup". Palm Beach Post. 27 February 2011. Retrieved 29 April 2015.
  32. 1 2 Genealogy.com
  33. ↑ Genealogy.com: Maria Victoria Vargas
  34. ↑ Element Capital: Board of Directors
  35. ↑ José de Córdoba, Judge Dismisses Racketeering Claims Against Venezuelan Businessmen: Ruling Allows Former U.S. Diplomat to Still Seek Damages for Alleged Defamation, The Wall Street Journal, August 19, 2014
  36. ↑ Genealogy.com: Victor Jose Vargas
  37. 1 2 Jaime Lopez, Chávez anuncia la nacionalización de los activos del Banco Santander en Venezuela, El Mundo , August 1, 2008
  38. ↑ Genealogy.com: Maria Margarita Vargas
  39. ↑ Ludmila Vinogradoff, Victor Vargas asegura que no ha perdido su visado en EEUU, ABC (newspaper) , April 10, 2015
  40. ↑ Arlene Satchell, Trump mansion sells for $95 million, June 18, 2008
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.