Prospects of a rapid economic recovery in Latin America have evaporated as the region grapples with the full impact of the coronavirus crisis. A slow transition back to normal activity could mean that it may be 2023 before GDP again reaches pre-COVID-19 levels, recently published estimates suggest. Latin America and the Caribbean are expected to…
The coronavirus lockdown has been an efficiency crash course for heavyweight banks in Brazil. Itaú Unibanco Holding SA, which shifted 95% of its headquarters, customer service and digital agency personnel to work from home, is set to pursue cost-cutting opportunities exposed by the coronavirus pandemic, CEO Candido Bracher said May 5 on a call to discuss…
Chilean banks, which already were bracing for fallout from political turmoil, are now also having to contend with a global health pandemic that is threatening the country’s economy. Widespread and prolonged social unrest in the latter months of 2019 — spurred initially by a hike in metro fares that subsequently exploded into a constitutional crisis…
Latin American banks are sufficiently capitalized to withstand ongoing turmoil as effects from the financial crisis and the commodity shock bleed into regional economies, provided that these conditions do not extend longer than three months, analysts say. The rapid slowdown in the global economy stemming from the novel coronavirus outbreak is already generating spillover effects…
Just a few weeks ago, 2020 was shaping up to be a banner year for Brazilian initial public offerings. But with fears over the novel coronavirus battering markets across the globe, many of those planned offerings could be delayed or cancelled. Buoyed by a strong market run up, as well as by XP Inc.’s successful…
A month and a half into the Chilean protests that have spurred senior government resignations and a revamp of the country’s constitution, Chile is on the brink of losing its privileged spot as Latin America’s safest bond investment. Prices on five-year credit default swaps, a widely used gauge of credit risk, stood at 56.54 basis…
Shortly after primary election results catapulted Peronist presidential candidate Alberto Fernández to front-runner status, he promised bondholders that his government would not default on its debt, unlike prior administrations in his party. Bond markets don’t appear to be buying it. In the wake of the surprise primary result, investors halved the value of an array of…
As Brazilian regulators push to create an open banking system to help drive competition and convenience, some market experts are raising red flags on the cybersecurity challenges it will create for a financial industry already under siege. In April, Banco Central do Brasil laid out guidelines that effectively require financial institutions to share key client data…
Financial markets increasingly expect Brazil’s benchmark Selic interest rate to hit new record lows this year as economic growth forecasts for the country have become continuously less impressive. In the latest Banco Central do Brasil’s market survey, financial agents trimmed forecasts for economic growth for the 12th time in a row. It now sees growth…
Brazil’s President Jair Bolsonaro, left, talks with Economy Minister Paulo Guedes, at the Planalto Presidential Palace, in Brasilia, Brazil, Monday, April 8, 2019.Source: Associated Press As Jair Bolsonaro marks 100 days in office as Brazil’s president, industry experts have given him high marks on his economic initiatives but also caution that political turmoil has risked…