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Derivative financial instruments for hedging purposes (Details Textual) (USD $) In Thousands, unless otherwise specified	12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2014
Derivative Instruments and Hedging Activities Disclosures [Line Items]
Maximum Length of Time Hedged in Price Risk Cash Flow Hedge	6 years 5 months 23 days
Foreign Exchange Forward [Member] | Loans [Member]
Derivative Instruments and Hedging Activities Disclosures [Line Items]
Cash flow hedge loss reclassified to interest income	222blx_ExpectedCashFlowHedgeLossReclassifiedToInterestIncome / us-gaap_AssetsSoldUnderAgreementsToRepurchaseAxis = us-gaap_LoansMember / us-gaap_DerivativeInstrumentRiskAxis = us-gaap_ForeignExchangeForwardMember
Foreign Exchange Forward [Member] | Available-For-Sale Securities [Member]
Derivative Instruments and Hedging Activities Disclosures [Line Items]
Cash flow hedge loss reclassified to interest income	220blx_ExpectedCashFlowHedgeLossReclassifiedToInterestIncome / us-gaap_DerivativeInstrumentRiskAxis = us-gaap_ForeignExchangeForwardMember / us-gaap_InformationByCategoryOfDebtSecurityAxis = us-gaap_AvailableforsaleSecuritiesMember

X

- Definition

The amount of losses on a cash flow hedge to be reclassified to interest income from accumulated other comprehensive income.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

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X

- Definition

Maximum period the entity is hedging its exposure to the variability in future cash flows for forecasted transactions, excluding those forecasted transactions related to the payment of variable interest on existing financial instruments, in 'PnYnMnDTnHnMnS' format, for example, 'P1Y5M13D' represents the reported fact of one year, five months, and thirteen days.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef

-Publisher FASB

-Name Accounting Standards Codification

-Topic 815

-SubTopic 30

-Section 50

-Paragraph 1

-Subparagraph (d)

-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=35736893&loc=d3e80748-113994

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