Latin America and Caribbean

Campaigning for October’s presidential election has yet to officially start in Brazil, but it is expected to be bitter – and the risks of political fall out for Brazilian banks have already become all too clear.

Despite some notable challenges, Latin American currencies could continue to surprise in the second half of the year.

Latin America’s corporates are embracing sustainable local debt financing with enthusiasm. The region’s bankers are betting that it’s going to be as good for bookrunner fees as it promises to be for the environment.

Eric Cardozo, co-founding partner, COO and CFO of Brazilian private banking boutique WHG, talks to Euromoney about quitting a mainstream firm in 2020 and why more private bankers in the country seem to be following suit.

Asset quality is under threat across the region, but particularly in Peru.

Demographics and technology are creating new markets for financial services in population segments long ignored by traditional banks. The region is seeing a feeding frenzy in fintech startups – and the banks are responding with a new strategy: get ready to meet ‘co-opetition’.

The pressure for a short-term boost to ROE might force Bradesco to re-evaluate its insurance portfolio.

Plans to incentivize foreign capital aim to boost capacity, with a new internal ‘investment bank’ to drive growing pipeline.

This year, many Latin American debt issuers eschewed the traditional practice of issuing in January, believing the expensive market would move in their favour. That reading now looks like a bad one.

A combination of geographical position and commodity strength is working in the country’s favour.

The war in Ukraine has further highlighted the benefits of Banco Santander’s diversification across Europe and the Americas, according to executive chairman Ana Botín. However, its European home market may be a big disadvantage in Citi’s looming auction of Mexican lender Banamex.

The rule change will be phased in, but shares in publicly listed fintechs dip.

Brazil’s banks stand firm against fintech’s rise.

After the 2020 sale of its US bank, BBVA’s global ambitions in retail are alive and well. It has entered Brazil with digital bank Neon, ploughed more capital into UK app-based lender Atom Bank and launched in Italy in a way that presages branchless growth across the eurozone.

Vaca muerta is an enormous oil and gas field, but it may be too late to exploit it.

The first sovereign sustainability-linked bond has been announced, and it is no surprise that it is coming from Latin America. Investors and bankers will follow Chile’s transaction carefully, but is the issuer’s decision to enter war-spooked markets a sign of confidence or recklessness?

Beny Podlubny, head of XP Private, talks to Euromoney about the metaverse, risk appetite, international expansion and why Brazilian clients like to keep things close to home.

Itaú’s Argentinian firm is its smallest. Nevertheless, innovation in its retail segment could be a game-changer in the country – and potentially the region.

Calling time on the virtual meeting room

The rationale behind a bank buyback can be different in emerging versus developed markets.

The chance to acquire Citi’s Mexican business could attract some unexpected bidders.

Citi’s decision to withdraw from consumer banking in Mexico demonstrates the extent to which fintech players have transformed this market. How prepared are the other incumbents to take on the competition?

Having closed its onshore private wealth businesses in Brazil and Mexico, the US firm had a standout year in its Latin American private bank in 2021.

The decision to sell Citibanamex ends the ‘Mexican exception’.

It took all of six days of the new year before the tone was set: XP Inc’s announcement of its acquisition of Banco Modal. The deal will need regulatory approval, but is being warmly endorsed by the target’s management and its minority shareholder, Credit Suisse.

German lender renews focus on LatAm after 2015 withdrawal.

The momentum behind the loss-making bank’s IPO had become unstoppable by year-end, even as the range was eventually cut. It now faces intense scrutiny as a public firm.

The CEO and CFO aren’t about to abandon the physical in the chase for digital business.

At the end of each year, Euromoney takes a close look at the performance of 25 key institutions that we cover. Speaking to senior executives at these firms, we assess what went right and what didn’t, together with what might lie ahead. This year, we have also examined the views of those at the top on two important factors for 2022: their own and others’ asset quality, and the disruptive threat of China. Their observations are discussed in the two features below, followed by our reports for 2021 on the Euromoney 25.

Rebooting the financial system with a new currency could be what’s needed to give Argentina’s economy a way forward.