Multiva tightens its trust screening and accelerates its bet on infrastructure projects
The bank ruled out 104 trusts due to risk and is reinforcing its compliance model as it looks to grow with credit tied to construction and energy.
Six months after taking over the administration of the trust business it acquired from CI Banco, Grupo Financiero Multiva fine-tuned its strategy: out of nearly 3,000 contracts reviewed, 104 were removed for not fitting its risk appetite. The decision reflects tighter control processes in a financial industry operating under increasingly strict oversight on anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing.
According to the bank’s executive management team, led by Tamara Caballero Velasco, the cleanup relied on technology tools to validate files, identify red flags, and cross-check information against watchlists and alerts from authorities and other organizations. At the same time, the institution maintained engagement with U.S. financial authorities through specialized legal counsel—an effort aimed at reducing reputational and operational risk for an entity looking to grow in corporate and wealth segments.
After the process, Multiva kept around 2,700 trusts. The move not only means a larger book under administration; it also opens the door to complementary services—treasury management, deposit gathering, and transaction banking—at a time when mid-sized banks are competing for corporate clients with more specialized solutions and stronger compliance capabilities.
The impact on the bank’s indicators is already showing up in some metrics. Regulatory figures as of year-end last year showed a meaningful increase in deposits, while the bank reported improved asset quality by lowering its nonperforming loan ratio. On earnings, 2025 performance was driven mainly by loan growth; the trust business began operating around September, so its full contribution would be expected in the following quarters.
In the macroeconomic context, Mexico’s banking sector enters 2026 with challenges and opportunities: interest rates that are still high by historical standards—though with expectations of gradual normalization—moderate growth, and investment seeking to regain momentum alongside public and private projects. For players like Multiva, the challenge will be balancing expansion and controls, especially in compliance-intensive niches such as trusts and fiduciary services.
Trusts, compliance, and the new standard for risk management
The emphasis on reviewing and dropping contracts signals how the risk-management standard in Mexico has evolved. In recent years, the industry has strengthened “know your customer” practices, transaction monitoring, and beneficial ownership assessments, driven by tougher regulatory demands, deeper audits, and the need to maintain correspondent banking relationships and frictionless international operations. In this environment, the use of advanced analytics and artificial intelligence has become a differentiator: it makes it possible to process large volumes of files, detect matches against risk lists, and prioritize cases for human review, reducing turnaround times and improving control consistency.
Infrastructure, energy, and real estate: credit as a lever in 2026
Beyond the fiduciary business, Multiva aims to capitalize on the investment cycle tied to infrastructure plans and blended public-private participation. The institution reports a pipeline of hundreds of projects under analysis, concentrated in infrastructure, energy, and real estate. For the financial system, these projects typically translate into bridge financing, structuring, guarantees, and eventually long-term instruments; however, they also require a careful assessment of execution risk, permitting, counterparties, and repayment sources.
Coordination between the government and the private sector will be key for those projects to materialize. In Mexico, execution speed often depends on regulatory certainty, planning capacity, the financial engineering of the investment vehicle, and discipline in risk allocation. If projects move forward under clear rules, they could spur demand for credit and fiduciary services; if they stall, banks’ appetite may turn more conservative, especially in segments with high exposure to administrative changes or permitting bottlenecks.
Overall, Multiva’s case illustrates a tension running through Mexico’s banking system: growing high-value businesses—such as trusts and project finance—without loosening controls. The pruning of contracts and the strengthening of compliance point to a more selective expansion strategy, one that will seek to convert higher deposits and better loan-book metrics into sustainable growth as investment projects mature.
