Costa Rica · Financial institution
Banco de Costa Rica
Banco de Costa Rica (BCR) is a state-owned commercial bank headquartered in San José, constituted as an autonomous public-law institution without shareholders. It provides retail, SME, corporate and institutional banking, trade finance and trust services. Its subsidiaries include brokerage, fund management, pension, insurance brokerage, leasing and logistics companies, and it holds 51% of Banco Internacional de Costa Rica (BICSA) in Panama. Founded in 1877 as Banco de la Unión, it was nationalised in 1948 and absorbed Banco Crédito Agrícola de Cartago on 19 September 2018.
Licences and registrations
Matched by LEI on the 22 tracked registers
None matched by LEI in the 22 tracked registers.
- The tracked registers cover payment, e-money, crypto and money-service firms in 37 countries. Bank licences from national supervisors are not tracked.
Swift network
Swift’s ISO 9362 BIC directory
- BIC
- BCRICRSJXXX head office
- Connection to Swift
- Connected to SwiftThis BIC is registered as a live address on the Swift network. The institution sends and receives Swift messages under BCRICRSJ directly.
- Swift GPI
- Not on the member list
- Payment schemes and systems
- No entry in the EPC registers, the ECB T2 and TIPS lists or the SIX Bank Master cites this BIC
- Branch codes
- None: head-office BIC only
- BIC first registered
- 1992-11-05
- Last updated
- 2025-12-27
Overview
Researched 29 Sep 2026 · Sources
Total assets
Not published
Employees
Not published
Ownership
State-owned
Institution type
Commercial bank
Trades as BCR
- Standing
- The Costa Rican government has announced its intention to sell the bank. A sale requires approval by the Legislative Assembly, and no sale had been authorised according to reports from July 2026.
- Ownership
- The bank is an autonomous public-law institution of the Costa Rican State and has no shareholders.
- Ultimate owner
- Republic of Costa Rica, Costa Rica
- Head office
- Avenida Central y Segunda, calles 4 y 6, San José, Costa Rica
- Former name
- Banco de la Unión
Business lines
The bank serves individuals, SMEs, companies and public institutions through 143 branches, with trust, foreign-trade and public services such as passport and licence appointments; its subsidiaries handle brokerage, funds, pensions, insurance brokerage and leasing.
Online
- Websites & references
- bancobcr.com ↗
personas.bancobcr.com ↗ online banking (Oficina Virtual)
bcrvalores.com ↗ subsidiary BCR Valores (brokerage)
bcrfondos.com ↗ subsidiary BCR SAFI (investment funds)
Wikipedia ↗ - Official social accounts
- LinkedIn ↗ · Facebook ↗ · Instagram ↗ · YouTube ↗ · TikTok ↗
Sources · 10 pages consulted
- bancobcr.com/wps/portal/bcr
- bancobcr.com/wps/portal/bcr/bancobcr/acerca-del-bcr/gobierno_corporativo
- bancobcr.com/wps/portal/bcr/bancobcr/acerca-del-bcr/gobierno_corporativo/alta_gerencia/bcr/
- bancobcr.com/wps/portal/bcr/bancobcr/acerca-del-bcr/gobierno_corporativo/directores/
- bancobcr.com/wps/portal/bcr/bancobcr/acerca-del-bcr/gobierno_corporativo/directores/bcr/
- racsa.go.cr/docs/nomadas-digitales/Instrucciones-para-recibir-transferencias-del%20exterior.pdf
- observador.cr/gobierno-busca-vender-el-bcr-sin-requerir-38-votos-en-la-asamblea-legislativa/
- nacion.com/politica/laura-fernandez-tratara-de-vender-el-bcr-para/JPMJL6NU5VBXXML6P3UMQ6RNWQ/story/
- crhoy.com/economia/podria-caer-el-bcr-en-crisis-resultados-al-cierre-de-2025-reflejan-lo-contrario/
- en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banco_de_Costa_Rica
Leadership
Researched 29 Sep 2026 · Sources
- Chief executive
- Julio César Trejos Delgado Gerente General (General Manager)
- Chair
- María Clemencia Palomo Leitón Presidenta, Junta Directiva General (Chair of the Board)
- Chief financial officer
- Rossy Durán Monge Gerente Corporativa de Finanzas (Corporate Finance Manager)
- Executive
- Minor Morales Vincenti Gerente de Riesgo (Risk Manager)
- Executive
- Fernando Víquez Salazar Vicepresidente, Junta Directiva General (Vice-Chair)
Supervisors & regulators
Researched 29 Sep 2026 · Sources
- Costa Rica
- General Superintendency of Financial Entities (SUGEF) Prudential supervisorAML supervisor
- Costa Rica
- National Council for Supervision of the Financial System (CONASSIF) Other
- Costa Rica
- Central Bank of Costa Rica (BCCR) Central bankForeign exchange
- Costa Rica
- Comptroller General of the Republic (Contraloría General de la República) Other
Recent events
Researched 29 Sep 2026 · Sources
-
Leadership
The Governing Council appointed María Clemencia Palomo Leitón as board president from 1 July 2026, succeeding Mahity Flores Flores, who left on 31 May 2026.
bancobcr.com ↗ -
Other
The Minister of Finance stated that the government was preparing a bill to sell the bank without requiring 38 legislative votes.
observador.cr ↗ -
Other
President-elect Laura Fernández announced her intention to sell the bank and use the proceeds for the IVM pension scheme.
nacion.com ↗
Compliance-relevant events of the last three years, newest first: fines and enforcement, investigations, incidents, leadership changes, mergers and licence changes. Each links to its source.
Identifiers
Head-office record
- BIC
- BCRICRSJXXX
- How the BIC breaks down
- BCRIBank
- CRCountry · Costa Rica
- SJLocation
- XXXBranch · head office
- Branch description
- Not recorded in the directory
- LEI
- 5493007MCBLQ05S44531
- LEI record
- View on GLEIF ↗
- How the LEI was matched
- BIC: Mapped to this BIC in the Swift and GLEIF BIC-to-LEI relationship file.
Profile
- Type
- Financial institutionClassified as a financial institution in Swift’s ISO 9362 BIC directory, with no licence on a tracked register. This includes banks that neither the ECB nor the FSB lists, as well as brokers, fund managers, insurers and market infrastructure.
- Regulation
- Not on a tracked registerNo licence or registration was found for this entity on the registers the directory tracks, or on the ECB and FSB bank lists. Most banks are licensed by national supervisors whose registers are not tracked yet. This does not mean that the institution is unregulated.
- Register licences
- None matched by LEI in the 22 tracked registersThe tracked registers cover payment, e-money, crypto and money-service firms in 37 countries. Bank licences from national supervisors are not tracked.
- Country · region
- Costa Rica · Latin America & Caribbean
- Trading venues (MIC)
- No MIC registered under this LEI list of 2026-09-17
- OFAC sanctions
- No listing cites this BIC
- EU sanctions
- No listing matched this BIC or its LEI
- Country sanctions
- No country programme
Types come from Swift’s BIC classification, the licences on the 22 tracked registers, and the ECB and FSB bank lists. Most banks outside the euro area appear as financial institutions, because their supervisors’ registers are not tracked yet.
No licence or registration was found for this entity on the 22 registers the directory tracks, or on the ECB and FSB bank lists. Most banks are licensed by national supervisors whose registers are not tracked yet. This does not mean that the institution is unregulated.
Ownership and group
GLEIF relationship records
GLEIF’s relationship records name no parent for this LEI, and no group page is published for it.
Addresses
- Registered address
- OFICINAS CENTRALES 4 - 6 AVENIDA CENTRAL, Y SEGUNDA SAN JOSE COSTA RICA
- Operational address
- 4 - 6 AVENIDA CENTRAL, Y SEGUNDA OFICINAS CENTRALES FLOOR 4TH SAN JOSE N/ A SAN JOSE POB 10035 COSTA RICA
ISO 20022 identification
As an agent in a Swift cross-border payment message (CBPR+)
A CBPR+ message identifies this institution by its BIC, and may add its LEI or a clearing code. CBPR+ does not allow a name and postal address next to a BIC.
- Identified by
- BIC, with its LEI
- Roles in CBPR+
- Any agent, including the instructing and instructed agents
CBPR+
For cross-border payments on Swift: the BIC, with the LEI and clearing code where known
<FinInstnId>
<BICFI>BCRICRSJXXX</BICFI>
<LEI>5493007MCBLQ05S44531</LEI>
</FinInstnId>Full record
Every ISO 20022 element the directory holds. Base ISO 20022 allows them together. CBPR+ does not allow a name and address next to a BIC
<FinInstnId>
<BICFI>BCRICRSJXXX</BICFI>
<LEI>5493007MCBLQ05S44531</LEI>
<Nm>BANCO DE COSTA RICA</Nm>
<PstlAdr>
<TwnNm>SAN JOSE</TwnNm>
<Ctry>CR</Ctry>
<AdrLine>OFICINAS CENTRALES 4 - 6 AVENIDA CENTRAL, Y SEGUNDA SAN JOSE</AdrLine>
</PstlAdr>
</FinInstnId>The BIC, name and address are as published in Swift’s BIC directory. The LEI comes from the Swift and GLEIF BIC-to-LEI file. Check them against your own records before use.
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Sources & method
Every value comes from a public source, such as Swift’s ISO 9362 BIC directory, GLEIF or the OFAC and EU sanctions lists. Most sources are matched on a BIC or an LEI, not on a name.
Swift GPI membership is matched on names and is indicative. A missing sanctions match does not mean that no listing applies. Always screen against the official lists.
The sanctions facts on this page cover the BIC and its LEI only.
An institution is one entry in the directory: a BIC8 in Swift’s directory, or a firm on a tracked register that holds no BIC. Licences held by an institution with a BIC are shown on its page.
Read the methodology →Credits for this page
- Overview, leadership, regulators and events—researched per institution by an AI model with web search, from the institution's own website and reports, regulators, company registers and news. Figures, people and events link to their source, and each card shows the research date. AI research can be wrong or out of date, so check key facts at the source.
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