Buenos Aires, Argentina. At the former Buenos Aires Design center, projects related to Nordelta and Punta del Este were presented, according to Agencia Noticias Argentinas. The coincidence of their surname and business background links Marcelo and Claudio within the same Porcel family nucleus associated with the birth of Argencard.
Currently, Marcelo Porcel is in the public eye due to a judicial case investigating him for alleged abuses and corruption of minors against his son's schoolmates at the Colegio Palermo Chico, with multiple complaints and an ongoing arrest request.
Meanwhile, Claudio Porcel maintains a high profile in the financial system as CEO of Balanz, with board memberships in markets like BYMA and MAE, and a narrative that vindicates Argencard as the origin of the family's capital and know-how.
Argencard was born as a credit card created by the merchant Néstor Porcel and his circle in the 1960s and 1970s, from a family business based in the Liniers area, and was later sold to the Exxel Group. Over time, Argencard became one of the central brands in the credit card business in Argentina before being absorbed by major international financial players, a process that marked the Porcel family's exit from shareholding.
From this business trunk, at least two visible branches emerge: on the one hand, that of Claudio Federico Porcel, linked to the capital market and founder of the Balanz Group; on the other, that of Marcelo Porcel, now pointed to in a criminal case for alleged abuses.
Claudio Federico Porcel, an accountant, was a director of Argencard and Banco Liniers Sudamericano before founding Balanz in 2002, a brokerage firm that transformed into a financial group with operations in Argentina and abroad, according to Agencia Noticias Argentinas. At Balanz, Claudio appears as a shareholder and central figure of the holding Balanz Capital Group S.A., alongside partners like Isabel Pita and the Bernardéz brothers, in a scheme with concentrated control in the hands of a few in the local capital market.
In parallel, public biographies describe Marcelo Porcel as the son of Néstor Porcel, the historic founder of Argencard, who channeled his capital into agribusiness and high-profile real estate developments. Marcelo stood out as the owner of the agribusiness firm Campazu S.A. and as the concessionaire for the OH! commercial complex.
