Brasilia, 27 (Agência Brasil - ABr) - The Bank of Brazil closed the year of 2001 in first place in the ranking of volume of assets of Latin American banks, with R$ 165.1 billion (approx. US$ 67 billion) - an increase of 19.3% over the previous year. The bank also ranked first in the administration of capital belonging to third parties, with a volume of R$ 61.4 billion (around US$ 25.7 billion), which corresponds to a 16.2% share of the market; and in the attainment of capital, with total deposits of R$ 73.4 billion (approx. US$ 30.7 billion) - a rise of 6.3% in relation to 2000.

In 2001, the Bank of Brazil was also the leader in the retail market, with 12.9 million individual clients - an increase of 9.6% over 2000. And it also ranked first in the Internet banking area, with 4 million registered clients, and conquered the leadership in the currency exchange market, with a 19.5% share. (MW)