Latin America Archives

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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 ...

News

Milestones : Argentina Seeks End To Default Saga

ARGENTINA Seeing off the debt: Kirchner hopes investors will accept deal. In a major policy reversal, the Argentine government is reaching out to holdouts from its $100 billion debt workout in which bondholders received a 70% ...

News

Milestones : Sovereign Funds Eye Santiago Principles

GLOBAL Place of principles: Santiago, Chile's capital, where the funds agreed to a series of standards. The International Working Group (IWG) of 26 member countries of the International Monetary Fund last month released a statement of Generally ...

Emerging & Frontier Markets

Emerging Markets : In Olympian Bid For Global Respect

BRAZIL Petrobras head José Sergio Gabrielli: Prefers debt issue to equity. The Brazilian government is grappling with the reality of new offshore oil discoveries that could produce an estimated 50 billion barrels of oil, according to private ...

Banking

Emerging Markets : Banks Seek Growth After Profits Slide

BRAZIL Digging in: Brazilian miner Vale is investing heavily. After several years of steady profit growth, Brazil’s banking sector reported a slowdown in second-quarter 2008. Bradesco, Brazil’s largest non-state bank by assets, posted a 13% drop in second-quarter ...