Context: How Bolsa de Valores de Asuncion works, and what it makes issuers disclose · Paraguay on the LatAm Power Map
A Colombian-owned bank with roots stretching to 1920, Banco GNB Paraguay is the country’s fourth-largest private bank — built by absorbing HSBC’s local operation and then BBVA Paraguay in a decade of dealmaking financed from Bogotá.
| Full name | Banco GNB Paraguay S.A.E.C.A. |
|---|---|
| Ticker / exchange | GNB.PY — bonds listed on Bolsa de Valores de Asunción (BVA); equity not actively traded |
| Headquarters | Asunción, Paraguay |
| Sector | Commercial banking |
| Employees | 571 (1 head office + 21 branches nationally) |
| Total assets (2024) | Gs 24,154,605,582,230 (~USD 3.99 billion) — our calculation at 6,061.49 PYG/USD |
| Gross operating income* (2024) | Gs 806,500,424,780 (~USD 133.1 million) — our calculation *Net interest income after provisions + net service fees; the standard revenue measure for a bank |
| Net profit (2024) | Gs 340,085,289,606 (~USD 56.1 million) — our calculation |
| Net profit margin | 42.2% of gross operating income — our calculation |
| Return on equity (ROAE, to Sep 2025) | 12.8% (FIX SCR, Oct 2025) |
| Capital adequacy (solvencia) | 15.30% (year-end 2024; legal minimum: 10%) |
| Market cap / P-E / dividend yield | Not published: shares are not actively traded on the BVA; only bonds are listed. The BVA emitter page and the bank’s IR site carry no equity price or yield. Under Paraguay’s Ley 1284/98 (Mercado de Valores), an S.A.E.C.A. must file audited accounts but is not required to publish a share price if shares are not exchange-traded. |
| Credit rating | AA(+)py Stable — FIX SCR / Fitch affiliate (March 2025) |
| Website | www.bancognb.com.py |
What it is
GNB Paraguay sits among the four largest banks in the country; as of July 2025 it ranks fourth among private banks by gross loans, deposits, assets, and equity — with market shares of 11.1%, 12.9%, 11.1%, and 12.8% respectively. It focuses on corporate and mid-market lending, keeping a simple model: take in deposits cheaply, lend to businesses at a margin, and run costs tightly.
The bank traces its origins to 1920 as the first international bank in Paraguay — a branch of the Bank of London and River Plate — then became Lloyds Bank in 1985, Lloyds TSB in 2000, and HSBC Bank Paraguay in 2007. In November 2013, after regulatory approval, HSBC’s Paraguay operations were sold to Banco GNB Sudameris S.A. of Colombia, and the bank was renamed Banco GNB Paraguay.
Who owns it
The controlling shareholder is Banco GNB Sudameris S.A. of Colombia, rated BB with Stable outlook on an international scale by Fitch Ratings, which provides both strategic backing and recurring capital support. GNB Sudameris is itself part of Grupo Financiero GNB S.A. — the vehicle through which the Gilinski family (led by Colombian-Israeli billionaire Jaime Gilinski Bacal) controls banking operations in Panama, Colombia, Peru, and Paraguay.
In August 2019, the acquisition of BBVA’s Paraguay branch by Banco GNB Paraguay was announced for approximately USD 270 million. After Colombian and Paraguayan regulatory approvals, the merger of Banco GNB Paraguay (absorbing entity) with the former BBVA unit was completed in July 2022.
The audited 2024 balance sheet names Banco GNB Sudameris S.A. and FVD Paraguay S.A. as the registered shareholders; the exact percentage split between them is not disclosed in the published financial statements — though the group’s consolidated annual report treats GNB Paraguay as a wholly-owned subsidiary.
In September 2023 the bank was formally renamed Banco GNB S.A.E.C.A. (Sociedad Anónima Emisora de Capital Abierto — open-capital company), and registered with the Superintendencia de Valores of the Banco Central del Paraguay in October 2024.
Who runs it
Osvaldo Serafini serves as General Manager (CEO) and Vice-President of the Board; he has spent his entire career in the same building across its three brand changes — joining as a Lloyds TSB risk officer in 2005, rising through HSBC, and leading the bank into its GNB era. The bank’s financial statements are signed by Ana María Benítez as Finance Manager (CFO equivalent), with Héctor Bengoa as external accountant and Carlos Amaral as Síndico (statutory auditor).
PricewaterhouseCoopers S.R.L. issued the independent audit opinion, dated 10 February 2025.
The money, in plain words
In the year to 31 December 2024, the bank generated gross operating income of roughly Gs 806.5 billion (~USD 133 million, our calculation) — the combined margin it earned lending money and charging for services. Total assets closed the year at Gs 24,154,605 million (~USD 3.99 billion), up Gs 2,479,155 million — a 10.2% rise on 2023.
After all costs and taxes, net profit was Gs 340,085,289,606 (~USD 56.1 million, our calculation) — meaning the bank kept about 42 cents of operating income as profit (net margin of 42.2%, our calculation), which is strong for a South American commercial bank. For every guaraní of owners’ equity at work, the bank earned about 12.8 cents — a return on average equity (ROAE) of 12.8%, solid for a corporate-focused lender in Paraguay.
The bank ended 2024 with a capital adequacy ratio (solvencia patrimonial) of 15.30%, comfortably above the legal minimum — and an efficiency ratio of 41.2%, nearly four percentage points better than the banking system average, one of the best in the sector. That means for every guaraní of income, the bank spends only 41 cents running itself.
On the liquidity side, liquid assets represent about 31% of deposits as of September 2025, supported by a high share of transactional (current-account) deposits — implying low risk of a funding squeeze.
What it is doing now
In December 2024, the bank launched three new series of guaraní-denominated financial bonds on the BVA exchange, expanding its local-currency long-term funding base. In April 2025 it opened a further USD-denominated bond series — Series 10 of its Global Emission Programme — with proceeds earmarked for long-term productive-project financing.
Through the first nine months of 2025, operating profit grew 14% quarter-on-quarter and 23.3% year-on-year, driven by a stronger net interest margin and higher operating income. The exchange itself is also evolving: in January 2026 the Bolsa de Valores de Asunción launched Nasdaq trading technology and separated its clearing and settlement functions, a structural modernisation aimed at aligning Paraguay’s capital market with international standards.
This is news, not investment advice.
Read More from The Rio Times