The main offices of Banco Elca on Avenida 6 near La Sabana park remain closed after SUGEF intervened in the bank's operations on Tuesday. Banco Elca had branches in Barrio Amon (Above), Heredia, San Carlos and in the CIMA medial tower. Elca was involved in the financing of the CIMA hospital in Escazú the board of directors was presided by Banco Elca president Carlos Alvarado.

Creditors and depositors alike are nervous as to the final outcome.

A source close to the bank's operations said that there is a buyer already interested in purchasing the bank and others may appear soon.

If the bank is sold, the new buyer would have to accept the bank's liabilities, with creditor and depositor monies being safe.

Many depositors of the bank were foreigners who had deposited at least $60.000 with the bank to comply with their residency requirements, preferring the small sized of the bank to the larger private banks and national institutions.

The bank had been very aggressive over the last couple of years attracting foreigner deposits.

One government agency - Banco Hipotecario de la Vivienda (BHV) - is also very nervous and anxious for a positive outcome as it is a major creditor of the bank. BHV is owed some ¢4.165 million colones (more than $9.500.000 at today's exchange rate) by the bank on mortgages, trust funds and bonds that were placed through the bank.

The SUGEF says it has high hopes that the bank can be saved, that the end result will be positive.

SUGEF intervened with the bank's operation on Tuesday when it felt that creditors and depositors were being placed at risk. It had been investigating the operations of the bank for some time and it felt that the bank was heading for trouble as it's reserves were well below the 10% required by all banks.

SUGEF also based it's action on irregularities it found in credit activities of the bank and attributed those irregularities directly to the bank's president, Carlos Alvarado Moya, whose family started Elca as a financial corporation some 20 years back and became a certified bank about 5 years ago.

Elca was also involved in the financing at the CIMA hospital in Escazú and Alavarado is executive president of the board of directors of the hospital. Elca als has a branch office in the medical tower, providing financial and banking services from the location.

In previous cases, the SUGEF has taken time to resolve difficulties faced by financial institutions. The latest private bank to run into difficulties was Bantec, located in La Uruca, who after several months is coming to a close. Depositors at Bantec have been offered .80 cents on the dollar.

In Costa Rica private banks are subject to government regulations under SUGEF and other government institutions, however, the government will not support any losses as it does with the national banks - Banco Nacional, Banco de Costa Rica and Banco Popular.

For the time being depositors and creditors can only hope.