Latin America and Caribbean

The recent appearance of a golden bull outside the São Paulo's B3 stock exchange was something of a red rag to the city’s populace.

The Peronist playbook is back in force: Argentina’s monetization of fiscal deficits relies on the banking system buying central bank and government securities. This time around the movie has a new subplot: credit growth in both the corporate and retail sectors is increasingly taking place outside the traditional banking sector.

The fiscal deterioration of Latin America’s former totem has more than just the pandemic behind it.

Banco Pan’s turnaround has taken another step forward with its acquisition of ecommerce platform Mosaico. Chief executive Carlos Eduardo Guimarães talks to Euromoney about the importance of growth with profitability.

Ricardo Lacerda launched a boutique investment bank in the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis. Having finally succeeded in IPOing his firm at the third attempt, he now looks to navigate it through Brazil’s turbulent waters.

Amazonia Impact Ventures says that financing sustainable agricultural production can reduce deforestation rates.

The world has been pressuring Brazil about the deforestation of the Amazon rainforest within its borders for decades. New ESG-style initiatives are being adopted by Brazilian banks and businesses, but it could be the climate impact closer to home that’s creating the impetus for real change.

Gustavo Montezano has been president of BNDES since July 2019. He is on a mission to get Brazil’s state development bank to adapt to the new financial reality of ESG. How the resultant tensions play out will be crucial to the development of Brazil and the world.

Brazil’s central bank attempts to redress the country’s woeful environmental reputation with climate-related stress tests.

Appetite for emerging market risk is much lower in the wake of Covid-19 than it was after the global financial crisis. This is the result of a mix of technical and fundamental factors, but it is primarily driven by the spectre of the emerging markets’ Achilles heel: inflation.

Other Latin American countries watch with interest as El Salvador’s bitcoin experiment gets off to a faltering start.

Chilean corporates can now sell through Euroclear, following the sovereign’s successful experience.

The IFC’s Latin America head sees local capital markets growth as key to financing sustainability.

This year was like no other in Latin American banking – and the huge leap forward in digital adoption throughout the region caused by the pandemic is here to stay.

Bank CEOs do not like it, but the regulators are fostering competition.

Private sector investment led to a Q1 GDP surge, with drought and energy shortages the main threat to economic revival.

Payments company prices above range as it shrugs off regional valuation constraints on Nasdaq debut.

Founder and former chief executive Guilherme Benchimol was keen to stress the mould-breaking attributes of his chosen successor as he passed the reins of XP Inc to Thiago Maffra in May.

The Swiss bank’s move onshore comes as other foreign players are leaving.

BBVA is relying more on its Latin America business. And the countries in that region are relying more and more on the global bank in turn. BBVA’s global head of country monitoring, Jorge Sáenz-Azcúnaga, explains how he expects this symbiosis to evolve.

In recent years, Brazil has endured famine, flood and pestilence. What’s next?

Pitching Petrobras will now demand military precision.

The cost advantages for some fintechs will become compromised as they begin to build physical operations. Euromoney speaks to Sergio Furio, CEO of Brazilian secured lender Creditas, about moving into the real world.

State-owned Caixa Economica cashes out of its Pan investment with R$2 billion profit.

Bankers sign up to open letter decrying the government’s handling of the crisis.

Liquidity events rather than asset migration drive market share gains.

The country’s president has responded to falling approval ratings and the threat of a trucker strike by raising bank taxes.

The country’s banks have become accustomed to the disruption caused by the new challengers, but XP Bank could take this to a whole new level.

Given its reputation, it’s not surprising that Argentina’s bonds are pricing in a high chance of default in coming years. It’s a little harder to understand why the country’s creditors are enabling this.

Milton Maluhy officially became Itaú’s new CEO at the beginning of February. He now faces the challenge of cutting the bank down to size.