Costa Rica · Financial institution
Banco Nacional de Costa Rica
Banco Nacional de Costa Rica is an autonomous public-law institution of the Costa Rican State, based in San José. The Superintendencia General de Entidades Financieras (SUGEF) and the Contraloría General de la República oversee it. According to its 2025 financial statements, it operates as a universal bank. It serves personal, business, corporate and institutional clients. It wholly owns subsidiaries in securities brokerage, fund management, pensions and insurance brokerage. It also holds 49% of Banco Internacional de Costa Rica, S.A. (BICSA) in Panama.
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
- BNCRCRSJXXX 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 BNCRCRSJ directly.
- Swift GPI
- Member, not yet live
- 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
- 1 branch code
- BIC first registered
- 1992-11-05
- Last updated
- 2024-07-10
Overview
Researched 29 Sep 2026 · Sources
Ownership
State-owned
Institution type
Commercial bank
Trades as BN
- Ownership
- The bank is an autonomous state-owned commercial bank of the Republic of Costa Rica and has no private shareholders.
- Ultimate owner
- Republic of Costa Rica, Costa Rica
- Head office
- Avenidas 1 y 3, Calles 2 y 4, 10015 San José, Costa Rica
- Company register
- Cédula jurídica 4000001021
Business lines
By law, the bank runs its business through three departments: Commercial, Mortgage and Rural Credit. It also acts as a trustee and manages Development Banking System funds.
Online
- Websites & references
- bncr.fi.cr ↗ did not load when checked
- Official social accounts
- None found
Sources · 11 pages consulted
- 48395929.fs1.hubspotusercontent-na1.net/hubfs/48395929/Estados%20Financieros%20Anuales%20Internos%20BNCR%20al%2031%20de%20Diciemb
- delfino.cr/2026/09/bn-designa-directorio-de-su-junta-directiva-para-el-periodo-2026-2027
- elfinancierocr.com/finanzas/banco-nacional-y-bcr-renuevan-sus-cupulas-asi/NGFYTTCK6VCULIKV2Q7ALYS4AI/story/
- nacion.com/economia/banco-nacional-designa-a-raul-espinoza-guido-como/6QSS44XZIZC4TAI64JTNP24FN4/sto
- revistasumma.com/lideres-que-inspiran-rosaysella-ulloa-gerente-general-del-banco-nacional/
- nacion.com/economia/banca/rosaysella-ulloa-es-nombrada-gerente-general-del/RAQA5UMYQZEO3JFZFUIGR23QX
- crhoy.com/economia/banco-nacional-ratifico-a-rosaysella-ulloa-como-gerente-general/
- nacion.com/economia/ganancias-de-banca-publica-crecieron-en-el-primer/MXKL3WNOYJCRND774XZ3CQOOFU/sto
- nacion.com/economia/cuales-son-los-bancos-mas-grandes-de-costa-rica/FWFIEYJ2ORCVBPHX5SQTBXQJZU/story
- infobae.com/costa-rica/2026/08/27/condenan-a-30-anos-de-prision-a-extesorero-del-banco-nacional-de-co
- nacion.com/sucesos/caso-por-desfalco-en-boveda-del-banco-nacional-no/W7FSLJYONRBUHCZ655MMHXJNRE/stor
Leadership
Researched 29 Sep 2026 · Sources
- Chief executive
- Rosaysella Ulloa Villalobos Gerente General (General Manager)
- Chair
- Raúl Espinoza Guido Presidente de la Junta Directiva General (Chair of the General Board)
- Chief financial officer
- José Antonio Vásquez Rivera Director Corporativo de Finanzas (Corporate Finance Director)
- Executive
- Maricela Alpízar Chacón Vicepresidenta de la 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 Central bankForeign exchange
- Costa Rica
- Comptroller General of the Republic Other
Recent events 2 enforcement or investigation items
Researched 29 Sep 2026 · Sources
-
Leadership
The General Board designated Raúl Espinoza Guido as chair for a term running to 30 June 2027.
delfino.cr ↗ -
Incident
A San José criminal court sentenced a former bank treasurer to 30 years in prison. The case concerned about CRC 3,293 million taken from the bank's vaults.
infobae.com ↗ -
Other
The Contentious-Administrative Tribunal ruled for the bank in a dispute over its 2017 income tax. It ordered a refund of CRC 30,097 million, and the bank appealed the amount.
48395929.fs1.hubspotusercontent-na1.net ↗ -
Leadership
The General Board appointed Rosaysella Ulloa Villalobos as General Manager for six years. She had served on an interim basis since December 2023.
nacion.com ↗ -
Leadership
General Manager Bernardo Alfaro Araya resigned. Rosaysella Ulloa Villalobos took the post on an interim basis.
nacion.com ↗ -
Incident
The bank filed a criminal complaint with the Public Prosecutor's Office over cash taken from its treasury.
48395929.fs1.hubspotusercontent-na1.net ↗
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
- BNCRCRSJXXX
- How the BIC breaks down
- BNCRBank
- CRCountry · Costa Rica
- SJLocation
- XXXBranch · head office
- Branch description
- Not recorded in the directory
- LEI
- 549300BH267R4KQVKV59
- 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
- 1 - 3 AVENIDA, CALLE 2 Y 4 SAN JOSE 1000 COSTA RICA
- Operational address
- AVENIDA 1 Y 3 CALLE 2 Y 4 SAN JOSE SAN JOSE POB 10015 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>BNCRCRSJXXX</BICFI>
<LEI>549300BH267R4KQVKV59</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>BNCRCRSJXXX</BICFI>
<LEI>549300BH267R4KQVKV59</LEI>
<Nm>BANCO NACIONAL DE COSTA RICA</Nm>
<PstlAdr>
<TwnNm>SAN JOSE</TwnNm>
<Ctry>CR</Ctry>
<AdrLine>1 - 3 AVENIDA, CALLE 2 Y 4 SAN JOSE 1000</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.
Network
Branch codes
| BIC | Branch | City | Address | LEI | Updated |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BNCRCRSJGCI | — | San Jose | SAN JOSE SAN JOSE COSTA RICA | — | 2024-07-10 |
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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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