S&P Global Market Intelligence presents the week's latest news and trends in Latin American banking.
Restructuring
* The Santiago de Chile Stock Exchange has approved the creation of a new company, Sociedad de Infraestructura de Mercados SA, for its integration with the stock exchanges in Colombia and Peru, La República reported. The Chile and Colombia stock exchanges will each hold 40% of the new entity, while the remaining 20% will be held by the Peru bourse.
* Mexico's Crédito Real SAB de CV Sociedad Financiera de Objeto Múltiple Entidad No Re plans to file bankruptcy proceedings in Mexico. The company's lenders pulled funding after concerns over about $1.1 billion of unpaid interest in Crédito Real's loan portfolio.
In the boardroom
* Colombia's The Gilinski Group has secured three board seats in Grupo de Inversiones Suramericana SA, La República reported. Gabriel Gilinski and Ángela María Tafur were named proprietary board members on Grupo Sura, and José Luis Suárez Parra was named an independent member. The Gilinski Group had acquired a minority stake in Grupo Sura in January.
* Brazilian investment bank Virtus BR Partners Assessoria Corporativa Ltda. hired Eduardo Freitas as a partner and to head a fixed-income division, Bloomberg News reported. Freitas has been a manager at Citigroup Inc.'s Brazil operations.
Company finances
* Chile's Banco de Crédito e Inversiones, Banco Santander-Chile, Banco de Chile, Scotiabank Chile SA and Banco de Crédito e Inversiones altogether piled on about $1.15 billion in additional provisions at the end of May, 75.4% up compared to 2021, Diario Financiero reported.
* Banco Inter SA said it will pay out 39.18 Brazilian reais for each common or preferred own share, payable to shareholders who opt for the cash-out option. The bank is undergoing a reorganization, prior to listing shares on Nasdaq. Shareholders who do not choose the cash-out option will receive their current shares in Brazilian Depositary Receipts listed on the B3 stock exchange, Reuters reported.
The regulator's eye
* Brazil's central bank hiked the benchmark rate to 13.25%, up 50 basis points. The regulator forecasts inflation will be about 8.5% this year and 4.7% next year.
* Banco de México Governor Victoria Rodriguez expressed that Mexico's financial sector remains solid, despite global economic uncertainty, Reuters reported. Meanwhile, central bank deputy governor Jonathan Heath commented the regulator would likely implement a 75-basis-point hike to the key rate June 23.
* Banco de México Governor Victoria Rodriguez commented that Citigroup Inc.'s sale of its Banco Nacional de México SA subsidiary is meeting required regulations, and authorities are monitoring it to ensure this, El Economista reported. In the previous week, Grupo Financiero Banorte SAB de CV, Grupo Financiero Inbursa SAB de CV and Banca Mifel SA Institución de Banca Múltiple Grupo Financiero Mifel were reported to have submitted bids to acquire Banco Nacional de México.
* Banco Central de la República Argentina raised the rate on 28-day Leliq notes by 300 basis points, to 52%, saying there seem to be more concerns of international financial risk.
* U.S. Court of Delaware Justice Kate Stickles approved Corp Group Banking SA's liquidation filing, Diario Financiero reported. Terms of the filing include that Corp Group President Jorge Andrés Saieh will deliver a promissory note for $1.5 million and that the Inversiones Gasa limited liability company of the Saieh group will issue a 15-year bond of about $23 million.
* Argentina's ADACU civil association has filed a joint action against Prisma Medios de Pago SA and against 14 banks that were shareholders in Prisma at the time, for alleged overpricing on certain credit card rates. Banco Macro SA, one of the banks, believes that an unfavorable case decision will not materially affect its assets.
In other news
* The Inter-American Development Bank forecasts that Latin America could see nearshoring work opportunities over the medium and long-term future, which could bring in up to $78 billion in goods and services exports. Brazil in particular could see about $3.1 billion in additional exports to other Latin American countries.
* Brazilian bank federation Febraban found that 31% of people surveyed have encountered scams involving their bank accounts, up from 22% in December 2021, Valor Econômico reported.
