Latin America Archives

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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 ...

Banking

Features : Island Life

CARIBBEAN FINANCE CENTERS Recent changes are helping the venerable finance centers of the Caribbean stave off increasingly intense international competition. Partly in response to the US-led assault on their opaque banking systems and propensity ...

Emerging & Frontier Markets

Milestones : Rating Downgrade Bucks Local Trend

ARGENTINA Don't cry for me: Kirchner's woes deepen as inflation accelerates. While Peru and Brazil crossed the investment-grade threshold this year, Argentina is moving in the opposite direction. Ratings agency Standard & Poor’s downgraded Argentina’s foreign and local long-term ...

News

Newsmakers : Calderón Aide Takes Top Economy Job

MEXICO Mexico's president Felipe Calderón is hoping Ruiz can help get the economy back on track. Faced with the fallout from the US economic slowdown, Mexico’s president, Felipe Calderón, appointed former businessman Gerardo Ruiz to the country’s top ...

Emerging & Frontier Markets

Emerging Markets : Soaring Surplus Channeled Into Wealth Fund

BRAZIL Mantega: Expects wealth fund to grow sharply. The Brazilian government increased its primary budget surplus by 0.5% of GDP, or some $7.9 billion, as part of a plan to finance its ...

News

Milestones : Copper Giant In Sell-off Talks

CHILE Chile's state-owned copper mine, Codelco, faces opposition over privatization plans. With the long wave of Latin American privatizations seemingly coming to an end, Chile looks like it might be about to ...

Emerging & Frontier Markets

Newsmakers : Leaders Line Up Presidential Candidates

URUGUAY Danilo Astori: Businesses' "darling" in presidential race. Unable to seek reelection, Uruguayan president Tabaré Vázquez has tipped his finance and economy minister to be the ruling Frente Amplio (FA) coalition’s candidate ...

Emerging & Frontier Markets

Emerging Markets : Brazil Makes The Grade

BRAZIL Mantega: Central bank reserves will not be used for wealth fund. After years of speculation over when and if Brazil would achieve a coveted investment-grade rating, the move finally caught almost everyone by surprise. Standard & Poor’s ...

Emerging & Frontier Markets

Newsmakers : In The Hot Seat

<p>ARGENTINA Fernandez: His appointment unsettled financial markets. As he slips into the seat occupied by four others in less than a year, Argentina’s new economy minister, Carlos Fernandez, faces the unenviable task of restoring confidence in his government’s economic ...</p>

Emerging & Frontier Markets

Newsmakers : Paraguay Joins The Leftist Club

PARAGUAY Lugo: Promising to improve Paraguay's international standing. Paraguayan president-elect Fernando Lugo, a former Catholic bishop, is the newest member of Latin America’s growing list of left-wing leaders. He faces serious challenges in a country that, until his ...

Emerging & Frontier Markets

Emerging Markets : Acquisition Crumbles

BRAZIL Brazilian mining giant Vale walked away from Xstrata acquisition talks. Vale, the Brazilian mining giant formerly known as CVRD, decided to walk away from its proposed $90 billion acquisition of Swiss miner Xstrata after both sides failed ...

Emerging & Frontier Markets

Emerging Markets : Company To Watch: Ecopetrol/Colombia

OIL PRODUCER PLANS TO BE BIG SPENDER Ecopetrol, Colombia’s state-owned oil company, says it hopes to list its shares on the New York Stock Exchange later this year, following a further privatization to help finance an aggressive spending ...