Brazil's banking sector has been making news in the wake of the global financial crisis, presenting itself as a resilient force to be reckoned with once the dust has settled and banks can begin to focus more on competing with each other instead of merely surviving. The largest banks within the country, Itau-Unibanco, Bradesco, Banco de Brazil, and Banco Real have had long legacies of growth through mergers and acquisitions, conservative approaches to investing in the wake of major financial and currency crises, and novel approaches to consumers in part due to government policy. These banks are not only healthy relative to their global competitors; they represent a new frontier of banking due to recent expansions and a unique internal culture.

Brazil's largest bank as of this year, the recently merged Itau-Unibanco, has been able to partially insulate itself from the most devastating effects of the global financial crisis. The merger, which was announced last November and completed March 31, 2009, has long been the subject of speculation. Itau's position as the second largest bank in the country combined with Unibanco's position as the third largest seemed to provide a good foundation to take on Bradesco, a large and competitive bank that had achieved its status through intelligent and well-timed acquisitions. During the global financial crisis, it seemed prudent to combine these entities to create a whole greater than the sum of its parts, as opposed to many bank mergers that have taken place in the US which have left some larger banks having to deal with the large loads of debt that their acquisitions have carried.