Latin America’s best bank this year is BBVA. The Spanish-headquartered bank has long been vulnerable to competitors’ claims that it was more a federation than an integrated network of subsidiaries, but the bank’s most recent performance shows that the management – overseen by Jorge Sáenz-Azcúnaga, head of country monitoring at BBVA – has addressed this weakness.

Citi worked hard to mitigate the effects of the pandemic throughout central and Latin America and, given its history and geographical spread throughout the region, its impact was widespread.

Santander is Latin America’s best bank for small and medium-sized enterprises. Many banks have SME offerings but few, if any, use the segment so effectively as one of the fundamental drivers of its growth.

The awkward truce in Brazil between XP Inc and Itaú broke down in a very public way in June.

Social distancing and government payments are turbo-charging digital bank’s growth.

The country is losing the war on the coronavirus, as well as wasting the ensuing digital payments opportunity eagerly grasped by others in Latin America.

Having raised liquidity in March, Latin American companies are now trying to assess the best way forward. Will they need new debt, fresh equity, or will the economy return sufficiently for them to simply repay?

There is a plausible recovery scenario that would enable Latin America to exit the crisis on a better path than it was on before.

Collapse in Brazilian equities places a question mark over recent growth in retail investment.

A due-diligence downside to working from home.

The bank reports record profits, loan growth and no advance provisioning while Bradesco and Itaú focus on risks ahead.

Breathless reporting of the details of the Argentine government’s offer to bondholders tends to presuppose there is doubt in the outcome.

Peru’s laudable coronavirus emergency measures won’t prevent its banks from taking a substantial hit – so what does that mean for less-well-run economies?

The president of the Inter-American Development Bank tells Euromoney how the bank is reacting to the Covid-19 virus and why he thinks the lasting legacy could be a positive one.

When corporates needed access to credit as the Covid-19 crisis ravaged Brazil’s markets, the big banks baulked or raised their costs dramatically. Is this the price of such a consolidated market, one that also provides much-needed stability in times of turmoil?

Risk that high leverage in global corporates could spark 'new global financial crisis'.

Bank scraps share buyback and postpones dividend decision as COO Arana warns lack of fiscal response from the government risks deeper decline.

They seemed to be emerging, blinking, into the light of a normal financial system under former president Mauricio Macri, but that moment has gone; the new administration has sent real rates negative, while economic and credit growth look to be years away.

Previous crises led to consolidated, profitable sector that should be able to weather coming storm.

It might be too much to say the country was bouncing back before Covid-19 struck, but it was beginning to look a bit better. Not now though.

The new government’s decision to go after Mercado Libre has the sector worried.

The economic fallout from the virus is beginning to impact regional currencies and growth forecasts.

The government’s response to the lack of financial inclusion is to build thousands of new banks throughout the country, but it faces a big challenge in weaning potential customers away from the black economy.

Four years after Scotiabank last took its investor day on the road, the bank put on a show in Santiago in January to highlight the advances it has made in its international banking strategy.

Brazil’s changing macroeconomic environment is shaking up the investment industry – and there has been no bigger winner than XP Inc. In his first post-IPO interview with the international media, CEO Guilherme Benchimol explains the firm’s competitive edge over banks.

The gravitational pull of Latin America on Santander has resulted in the move to appoint Santander Brasil CEO Sergio Rial to the bank’s board as executive director.

The rhetorical battle between Argentina’s government, the IMF and bondholders is heating up but the bigger – largely ignored – issue appears to be the country’s looming financial collapse.

The country needs to raise up to $4.5 billion in the international markets this year – and it won’t be easy.

XP has been outperforming even its most optimistic analysts’ projections in recent quarters.

It has made waves with an IPO and by building a strong retail banking platform. Less well known is how the firm is gatecrashing the country’s thriving wealth management industry.