The BNF modified guarantees to support a G. 62 billion loan to Itti

According to ABC Color, a October 9, 2023 report from the Commercial Area Management of the Banco Nacional de Fomento flagged risks over part of the properties submitted to form the autonomous estate of the trust that was to back a G. 62 billion loan to Itti, of Grupo Vázquez SAE.

According to that document, the BNF Property Valuation Division warned that a property located in Limpio, with quarries inside it, could lose value if mining operations became active, which would ultimately affect its economic use and its effectiveness as credit collateral. ABC Color said that the lot is registered in the name of Ueno Holding Saeca, formerly Credicentro, a firm in which Santiago Peña appeared as a shareholder until April 2025.

The BNF appraisal placed that property at G. 14.470 billion and its quick-sale value at G. 11.576 billion. To access the full financing, Itti had to establish a real estate trust for G. 88.572 billion, but the 14 properties initially submitted totaled G. 28.985 billion according to the bank’s official valuation.

During an on-site inspection, the BNF’s Departmental Credit Support Management confirmed that the quarries were inactive. Still according to ABC Color, the person in charge who accompanied the inspection said the facilities had been in that condition for approximately eight years. The report also noted that the external appraisal, which calculated the value of the properties at G. 55.251 billion, mentioned an urban development project, although the corresponding approval from the National Cadastre Service had not been submitted.

The bank’s analysts also said the profitability of the mining operation was not calculated because of the lack of mining permits from the Vice Ministry of Mines and Energy and the absence of a geological study on productivity, costs and return. The report recalled precedents involving mortgaged properties with quarries that depreciated because of the terrain conditions, so the institution maintained its criterion of not accepting properties of that type as collateral.

The loan had been approved on July 27, 2023, with a 10-year term and a 30-month grace period for principal amortization. The intended use of the funds was office renovation, furniture purchases, ATMs and software licenses. The original resolution conditioned the disbursements on the constitution of a minimum fiduciary guarantee of G. 88.572 billion.

Almost three months later, the Commercial Area proposed modifying that resolution because of the difference between the two appraisals included in the file: G. 28.985 billion according to the BNF and G. 55.251 billion according to the expert from the fiduciary Finexpar Saeca, now Zeta Banco. The proposal was to reduce the required autonomous estate to G. 55.251 billion and limit the second disbursement to G. 16.289 billion, equivalent to 70% of the bank’s appraisal, until more assets were added.

ABC Color reported that on October 11, 2023 the BNF board approved that change and exempted the company from paying G. 62 million in administrative expenses for the modification. The new scheme was divided into three stages: G. 4.000 billion upon signing the promissory note, G. 16.289 billion with proof of filing the registration process in Public Records and a third disbursement of up to G. 41.710 billion subject to an addendum to expand the trust’s assets.

In the contract, the newspaper added, Itti, Financiera Ueno, now Ueno Bank, Grupo Vázquez SAE and Ueno Holding Saeca appeared as trustors. The same outlet recalled that Itti presented the investment project to obtain the loan and that, in 2025, it quoted the BNF a core banking system for G. 136.000 billion.

Sources

• ABC Color

About this note. Written by El Notero with assistance from artificial intelligence, based on what was published by the cited outlet. El Notero did not do its own reporting on this fact.