Victor Vargas (born 28 March 1952) is a Venezuelan banker and businessman, best known for being the former owner and president of the 4th largest private bank in Venezuela, Banco Occidental de Descuento. The bank was recognized as the fourth largest private financial entity in Venezuela and was noted by reports for climbing the Forbes list of the world's most valuable companies.[1] BOD was later intagreted with another financial entity BNC.[2]
In the 1980s, he acquired CapitalBanc Corp., a New York-based bank. The bank was sold to Popular Bank of Puerto Rico down in the early 1990s after authorities discovered a fraud. While Vargas was not accused of fraud, authorities alleged that he misled regulators about when he discovered an illegal activity. He subsequently paid a $1.5 million fine and signed an order agreeing not to invest in U.S. banks again without regulatory permission.[6] He is quoted describing the venture as "the worst business" of his life.[3] 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 when he was the President of (FELABAN) Latin American Banks Federation.[3]
In 1992 he sold a small bank he founded and owned.[3] He used those funds a year later, in 1993, to buy Banco Occidental de Descuento, based in the oil-rich state of Zulia.[3] Many of his clients are oil investors.[3] Another form of revenue comes from purchasing sovereign debt bonds and re-selling them for profit to investors.[3] As of 2015, it was the 4th largest private bank in Venezuela.[7] He serves as its Vice-President.[8]
Victor Vargas presenting BOD's results and plans
Economic alliances
In 2017 Under Vargas's presidency, the Banco Occidental de Descuento (B.O.D.) reached an agreement with American Express to expand its point-of-sale network, providing over 45,000 new commercial outlets for American Express cardholders in Venezuela.[9]
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.[10]
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.[11]
National and International financial leadership
In 2006 Vargas served as the (President of the Latin American Federation of Banks (FELABAN)) in 2006, occupying the maximum representative role for the banking sector in Latin America.[12][13]
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.[14]
Relations with Bolivarian government
Critics have alleged Vargas made background deals with the Chávez government, which Vargas has denied.[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]
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 Madrid. 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]
On September 1, 2015, Vargas told The Telegraph that he was planning to start a league in the Dominican Republic. 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 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.[citation needed]
They divorced in 2014. Vargas remarried to María Beatriz Hernández later that year. They have two children.[32]
↑ "BOD lanzó tarjeta de crédito para pymes". El Nacional (in Spanish). Venezuela: NoticiasFinancieras/Grupo de Diarios America. 26 November 2014 – via Nexis.
↑ "Festejo". El Nacional (in Spanish). Venezuela: NoticiasFinancieras/Grupo de Diarios America. 19 May 2013 – via Nexis.
↑ "Gobierno negó que se impongan multas por consumo eléctrico". El Nacional (in Spanish). NoticiasFinancieras/Grupo de Diarios America. 29 June 2013 – via Nexis.
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