Fitch analyst Pedro El Khaouli tells LatinFinance that the bank is considered a safe haven and that this was proven during the 2003 crisis, when clients transferred money from other, smaller institutions to Popular. Deposits have increased to 99.3 billion pesos in June 2009 from 95.1 billion pesos in 2008.

The bank has fared relatively well in the recent crisis. Not only did it post profit of 1.4 billion pesos, its assets have increased to 149.3 billion pesos from 139.3 billion pesos the previous year. And while other major banks in the ...