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TOP NEWS IN LATIN AMERICAN BANKING & FINANCIAL SERVICES
* Mexico's Grupo Financiero BBVA Bancomer SA de CV's fourth-quarter 2020 profit was down 41.3% to about 8.80 billion pesos, while full-year 2020 profit fell 24.8% to 42.86 billion pesos. BBVA Bancomer accounted for 45% of its Spanish parent's 2020 net profit.
* The board at Colombia's central bank voted 5-2 to maintain the benchmark rate at 1.75%, citing annual inflation of 1.6%, which is below the official 3% target. Inflation expectations for 2021 and 2022 were kept at 2.7% and 3.1%, respectively.
➤ GameStop frenzy could 'forever change' shorting as traders disrupt risk calculus
The Reddit-fueled frenzy on Wall Street is likely to lead to an increase in margin requirements from brokerages and will almost certainly lead to strict controls on future short selling, said Edward Moya of OANDA.
➤ Greek banks in 'complex but manageable' situation as loan moratoriums end
Some 14% of loans of Greek bank loans are under moratoriums, with repayments on pause as borrowers contend with the economic hit of the pandemic. The plight of Greek banks once this grace period ends will be "complex but manageable," experts say.
BANKING
* Fourth-quarter 2020 profit at Chile's Banco de Credito e Inversiones grew 16.1% to about 93.38 billion pesos from 80.44 billion pesos a year earlier. Financial margin income grew 12.0% yearly to 391.33 billion pesos from 349.38 billion pesos, and provisions also expanded 32.5% to 180.40 billion pesos, from 136.14 billion pesos a year ago.
* Pedro Guimarães, the CEO of Brazilian state-owned lender Caixa Econômica Federal, announced the opening of 75 new branches in the next three months, Valor Econômico reported.
* Shareholders at Brazil's Itaú Unibanco Holding SA approved a restructuring proposal for its equity interest in XP Inc, representing 226,523,304 shares. Itaú's stake will be transferred to a new company that will be named XPart SA.
* The board at Brazil's BRB-Banco de Brasília SA elected Edison Antônio Costa Britto Garcia as chairman.
* Credit to the Peruvian private sector grew 12.3% in 2020, the highest figure since 2013, due to government loans during the pandemic, according to data from the central bank. Excluding the effects of the government's public aid program, credit to the private sector would have fallen 4.6%, the monetary authority said.
FINANCIAL SERVICES
* Colombia's financial regulator selected nine alliances of entities for its crypto-asset regulatory sandbox that will begin testing in March, La República reported. Among the selected groups are the alliances between Banco de Bogotá SA and Bitso, and Bancolombia SA and Gemini.
* Brazil's Porto Seguro SA signed a deal to acquire 74.67% of Segfy Tecnologia SA, to be acquired through its Porto Ventures investment fund. Segfy Tecnologia provides technology services to insurance brokers.
INDUSTRY NEWS
* Mexico's 2020 GDP contracted 8.5% year over year using seasonally adjusted figures, according to statistics agency INEGI. Fourth-quarter 2020 GDP narrowed 4.6% from a year earlier, but rose 3.1% from the previous quarter.
* Argentine Finance Minister Martín Guzmán is pushing for the country to reach a deal with the International Monetary Fund by May to help it meet $44 billion in debt, The Wall Street Journal reported. Guzmán is also pushing for the country to narrow its budget deficit to about 6% of GDP in 2021 from 8.5% in 2020.
MARKETS
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Pablo Jiménez Arandia contributed to this report.
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