People walk in front of the JPMorgan Chase & Co. building at the firm's new headquarters at 270 Park Avenue, in New York City, U.S., October 21, 2025. REUTERS/Eduardo Munoz
HOUSTON: The United States’ involvement in Venezuela’s oil sector offers a potential opportunity for international banks, with JPMorgan Chase in an advantageous spot due to its history in the country and past involvement with international trade financing.
A clutch of banks including JPMorgan and Citigroup have historically operated in the country, but reduced operations or pulled out in the last few decades.
US banks now, however, may have the potential to compete for opportunities in trade financing or financing investment in oil infrastructure, one source familiar with the situation said.
Venezuela is under an interim government after the United States captured President Nicolas Maduro over the weekend and analysts stressed there would still be significant challenges to doing business.
Among the banks, JPMorgan could have an edge in the country, where it has had a presence for 60 years.
While JPMorgan curtailed its banking and stock trading operation in 2002, it kept a dormant office in Caracas for many years, according to a second source familiar with the matter, adding that it could be reactivated as needed.
“JPMorgan is among the very few US banks with an office in Venezuela, though activity is minimal due to current restrictions,” said Maria Paola Figueroa, head of Frontier Latin America Research at the Institute of International Finance.
“The potential reopening of the oil sector and a broader economic recovery could create meaningful opportunities for foreign banks to re-enter the Venezuelan market, subject to the easing of US financial sanctions.”
Venezuela has been under US sanctions since 2006, which were tightened in 2017, prohibiting US financial institutions from providing new money to the government or state oil company, PDVSA.
In 2019, Washington imposed broad sanctions on its oil sector.
Now the United States is planning to selectively roll back sanctions on Venezuela as it begins marketing Venezuelan oil.
The Department of Energy last Wednesday said that proceeds from oil would settle in US-controlled accounts at global banks.
ConocoPhillips CEO Ryan Lance said last Friday at a meeting at the White House that US banks, including the Export-Import Bank, a federal bank which finances projects overseas, may need to be involved in financing Venezuela oil investments.
For JPMorgan, there could be several avenues for involvement.
One idea floated within the bank was the possibility of creating a trade bank to finance oil exports, a third source familiar with the matter said, without specifying if official discussions were taking place.
JPMorgan could also use funds from its Security and Resiliency Initiative, a US$1.5 trillion 10-year plan it unveiled last year to finance areas such as critical minerals, where Venezuela has deep resources, the second source familiar with the matter said.
Currently, the bank trades Venezuelan sovereign bonds that are not under sanctions with offshore counterparties, the source said. Separately, an industry source said there could be opportunities for restructuring, financing deals and within energy that banks would be interested in
A White House official said that President Trump’s administration is carefully evaluating all options at its disposal, prioritising the best interests of the American people.
Any announcement will come directly from the administration; anything else is purely speculation, the official said.
Citigroup historically had a presence in Venezuela, but sold its operations to Banco Nacional de Crédito, exiting in 2021.
“The dark horse here is Citigroup,” Mayo said, citing the bank’s past experience in Latin America. Citi declined to comment.
Spanish lender BBVA is the only major foreign bank with significant presence in Venezuela.
Alejandro Moreno-Salamanca, professor at IESE Business School, said that if the political transition in Venezuela goes ahead, there would be opportunities in energy and infrastructure projects, “especially for BBVA.
A spokesperson for BBVA said “it is too early to say anything at this moment in time due to high uncertainty.” — Reuters
