Banca Nazionale del Lavoro (BNL) announced in Rome yesterday that it will not be investing further in Argentina and “divest progressively” from its operations in Latin America. The announcement came after the Board of Directors approved its 2002-2005 strategic plan, which seeks to focus activity on domestic markets and core activities. In a statement the bank said its exposure to crisis-ridden Argentina was fully covered and that it would raise its primary capital adequacy, addressing two issues which have been a key concern to the market. “The 2002-2005 industrial plan will allow us to reach our economic and capital goals and will mean that we will strengthen our financial position already this year,” the group said in a statement after a daylong board meeting.

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