The Venezuelan government officially nationalized three small banks on Dec. 8. The official announcement comes after a week of financial turmoil as the Venezuelan government has nationalized a total of seven banks. While the government's official story has been that the banks were making too many profits and that bank leaders and associates were guilty of crimes, the real reasons for the takeovers are likely myriad. This is not the first time the government of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has gone after the banking industry. In August 2008, Chavez announced the nationalization of the Bank of Venezuela, a part of Spanish company Santander. The nationalization was handled professionally, with Venezuela purchasing the bank from its parent company to the tune of $1 billion. A second bank — Stanford Bank Venezuela — was taken over by the Venezuelan government in February of 2009 after the bank suffered legal difficulties.