Venezuelan Minister of Economy and Finances Ali Rodriguez said on Friday that the government had intervened in four private banks, which failed to fulfill the institutional norms of the country.

Rodriguez told the press on Friday that the government took administrative measures against the banks, namely Canarias, Confederado, Bolivar and ProVivienda (BanPro), after determining they were not complying with various regulations, including the increase of capital without declaring its origin and the non-fulfillment of the credit portfolios.

Rodriguez said that the government intervened to ensure that the banks could continue their normal operations with their clients, because these banks together have 10 percent of the country's overall banks clients.

Meanwhile, banking and other financial institutions superintendent Edgar Hernandez said authorities found that these banks "had a lot of weaknesses, deviations and even reiterated noncompliance."

On Feb. 19, 2009, Venezuela also intervened in the Stanford Bank in the country, after clients withdrew about 93 million U.S. dollars, about 37 percent of the bank's deposits, due to a fraud scandal of this bank in the United States.

On May 13, Venezuela also investigated the Industrial de Venezuela Bank, a main financial entity of the State, after it registered 88.7 million dollars of losses for 22 consecutive months.