Banco Santander SA (SAN)

One of the biggest banks in the world. Exposed to Latin America and Europe and did into get into too much trouble during the financial crisis. He likes HSBC-N more. He has problems with Spain being a regulator that does not regulate.

(Top Pick Apr 16/14, Down 16.17%) China is going to become the largest consuming country and these guys are the box on the supplier as far as purchasers are concerned. He thinks this one could really surprise you on the upside. The price has stabilized here.

A very large, global, Latin American bank based in Spain. He would not own it because of the uncertainty in the Euro zone. He thinks the risk in European banks is still too high. He would prefer JPM-N or C-N.

Bank of America (BAC-N) or Banco Santander (SAN-N)? This has a much lower dividend yield. They cut the dividend by two thirds and did a big equity issue, which is the reason for the big slide in the price. A very well-run bank, but there was a big chunk of stock that was placed with investors, so the share price is probably going to mark time for a while. Bank of America is probably the one you should stay with.

A Spanish bank, but actually has exposure in Brazil. This is in a decent space here right now.

Headquartered in Madrid, but twice as big in Britain as it is in Spain. Considered a European bank, but is really a world class bank. Has a great yield. Never took any government money. This bank’s biggest position is in South America.

One of the global behemoths in the banking space. It survived the crash relatively well. The issue he has is its domestic market. The regulatory environment in Spain has been very poor. It got to the extent where they did so much financial engineering that they guaranteed the tax assets, so that companies could take revenue tax losses and use that to build equity. To him, that is an extreme form of financial engineering. Thinks the dividend is likely to come down a little. Longer-term you would be better off looking at some of the other markets. US big money centered banks have been thriftily recapitalized. Government is continuing to take cash off of them in terms of social litigation. UK banks are probably in the same shape.

A pretty complex bank with a host of publically listed securities. As an international investor, don’t settle for this. The good news is in the share price.

The Brazilian election will be on Oct 5^th. This is quite important as this bank has a 5^th of their revenue coming out of Brazil. The stock won’t go up or down simply because of Brazil, but it might soften the debt if the election goes poorly. Yield of 8.4% is safe.

Largest bank in Spain. Like most European banks, it has not done particularly well over the last 5 years. This will give you the dividend plus maybe a little bit of growth. Yield is quite high at over 7% and there is a concern that they may have to cut that if the European banking regulations require them to put more capital on.

(A Top Pick Nov 22/13. Up 16.61%.) Headquartered in Spain, but Spain is only a small part of their business. They’re big in the UK and very big in Brazil. He is hoping that the election in Brazil, in 2 months time, changes things. If the election goes the right way, like it did in India, there could be quite an interesting situation develop. 8.5% dividend yield.

Going to buy one of Brazilian’s assets, but questions if it will really go through and if it does what will the combined entity look like. The combination will be a very good powerful entity. If you are going to invest in the emerging markets, now is a pretty good time to do it. Portuguese market is still struggling. He would suggest you wait until it happens.

8.2% dividend yield. He always gets nervous when a bank is paying a big dividend. It tells you that the market is concerned that they may have to cut the dividend.

Pays a great dividend. If he owned, he would continue to collect the dividend. He can see about 33% upside.

This has a lot of credentials as to why you might want to look at it. It is in Spain, but is actually bigger in Britain than it is in Spain, and bigger in Brazil than it is in Europe. Also, has exposure to Mexico and the US. Has a really nice dividend on it. Thinks it can go $12-$14.