Latin America Archives

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Newsmakers : Santander Loses Face In Latin America

LATIN AMERICA Sleepless in Madrid: Santander chairman Emilio Botin Spanish banking giant Santander is struggling to contain the fallout from the more than $3 billion loss its clients sustained through the bank’s investments in funds linked to disgraced ...

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Milestones : Slumping Copper Prices Take Shine Off Growth

CHILE Chile's president Bachelet: Stimulating economic growth. While high copper prices had maintained Chile’s economy as Latin America’s strongest, it seems the party is over as prices plummet and demand wanes. The South American country, the world’s largest ...

Emerging & Frontier Markets

Emerging Markets : Banking Giants Push For Growth

BRAZIL Presidents Medvedev and Lula call for the first-ever BRIC summit. Eager to maintain its status as Latin America’s largest financial institution, Banco do Brasil, Brazil’s largest state-controlled bank, announced the acquisition of Nossa Caixa, a bank ...

News

Newsmakers : Correa Steps Up Debt Campaign

Ecuador Correa: Buying political capital with debt restructuring. Ecuadorian president Rafael Correa has made good on his 2006 presidential campaign promise to default on any foreign debt deemed illegitimate, defaulting on $3.9 billion in global bonds. This marks ...

Emerging & Frontier Markets

Milestones : Rating Slides As Default Looms

ARGENTINA President Kirchner makes overtures to avoid debt default. After months of analysts’ warnings that Argentina may be facing a new debt default, Standard & Poor’s agreed. The ratings agency lowered Argentina’s sovereign rating on October 31 ...

Emerging & Frontier Markets

Emerging Markets : Banks Continue Consolidation

BRAZIL Brazil’s banks continued their consolidation trend, with the most recent deal in November creating Latin America’s largest financial group. Itaú, Brazil’s second-largest non-state-owned bank, announced its acquisition of Unibanco, the country’s third-largest, in a stock transaction valued ...

Emerging & Frontier Markets

Emerging Markets : Colombian Cement Maker Starts Level I Adr Program

DR NEWS Cementos Argos, the fifth-largest cement producer in Latin America, began trading its shares in the US over-the-counter market in the form of American depositary receipts. The Medellín, Colombia-based company makes white and gray cement, as well ...

Emerging & Frontier Markets

Features : Brazil Points The Way

LATIN AMERICA President Lula’s bold program of social and economic reform has become a model for economies in Latin America and beyond. Under Lula, Brasilia has focused on growing the economy in a way that benefits people at all ...

Emerging & Frontier Markets

Milestones : Four-Year Fight Ends In Cafta Ratification

COSTA RICA President Arias successfully concludes free trade agreement. Four years after it was first signed, Costa Rican lawmakers in November finally ratified Cafta, the free trade agreement between Central America, the Dominican Republic and the United States. ...

Emerging & Frontier Markets

Emerging Markets : Government Mobilizes Reserves To Boost Liquidity

BRAZIL Oil finds saw Brazil's national petroleum agency ANP reduce new exploration concessions. While Brazilian officials had touted the country’s resilience to the global financial meltdown, they got a disturbing wake-up call in October as the ...