Nov. 5 (Bloomberg) -- Sao Paulo, Brazil’s largest city, will become a major financial center, “just like the City of London, Frankfurt and New York,” said Emilio Botin, chairman of Banco Santander SA.

“I have no doubt whatsoever that soon Sao Paulo will be one of the world’s leading financial centers,” Botin said today at an Brazilian investment conference in London, according to the text of a speech provided by the bank.

Santander, which has 21 million customers in Brazil and 12 percent of the nation’s lending market, aims to increase its $28 billion investment in the country, funded by the initial public offering of its Sao Paulo-based bank last month, Botin said. The bank raised about 14 billion reais ($8.1 billion) in the IPO.

Santander has “absolute confidence” in the Brazilian economy, Botin, 75, said in London, where the audience included Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. The bank may earn 4 billion euros from Brazil by 2011, making the country the biggest contributor to Santander’s profit, according to a report by Evolution Securities.

Santander’s Brazilian unit has a market value equivalent to about 31 billion euros, bigger than Deutsche Bank AG’s 29.6 billion-euro valuation.

“We are talking about a highly competitive, efficient, solvent and technologically advanced financial system, which is in the unique position of having three large, strong, well- managed public banks, and three private banks, including Banco Santander Brasil, situated among the 30 largest banks in the world by stock market capitalization,” Botin said.

To contact the reporter on this story: Charles Penty in London at cpenty@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: November 5, 2009 09:29 EST