CFI.co Meets the CEO of Banco del País: María del Rosario Selman-Housein

For the past six years, María del Rosario Selam-Housein has stood at the helm of the Banco del País, expertly leading the bank to its prominent present position in Honduras. However, Mrs Selman-Housein has not just engineered the bank’s remarkable growth since 2008; she has also made Banco del País into a fixture of Honduran society through a pro-active approach to corporate social responsibility policies. Banco del País underwrites a growing number of community initiatives that aim to support education and healthcare programmes.

Married and a mother to three kids, María del Rosario Selman-Housein was born in San Pedro Sula, the business hub in the western part of Honduras where she attended Sampedrana International School all the way through high school. Academically gifted, Mrs Selman-Housein proceeded to the National Autonomous University of Honduras in Tegucigalpa where she read social and judicial sciences with an emphasis on mercantile law.

After obtaining her bachelor’s degree with honours, Mrs Selman-Housein switched to the Universidad Tecnológica Centroamericana where she took a master’s degree in marketing and international business. She also enrolled in a number of graduate courses outside the country. At the Monterrey Institute of Technology and Higher Education in Mexico, Mrs Selman-Housein obtained a degree in financial and banking administration.

Starting her career in an administrative position at the Banco Cuscatlan of El Salvador, Mrs Selman-Housein soon moved to jobs at Aval Card SA and the Cuscatlan bank and insurance company in her native Honduras.

In her early years as a law professional, Mrs Selman-Housein worked at the law offices of Batres y Asociados and later at Matamoros, Batson y Asociados. She went on to become the regional manager of the Honduran-American Chamber of Commerce (HAMCHAM) and barely a year later saw herself installed as the general manager of Asesores Administrativos.

Since 2008, Mrs Selman-Housein is the CEO of Grupo Financiero del País. As such she directs not just the Banco del País but also the Seguros del País insurance company.