S&P Global Market Intelligence presents the week's latest news and trends in Latin American banking.
Going public
* Banco BMG SA aims to obtain an estimated 2 billion Brazilian reais from its initial public offering of up to 161.9 million preferred shares. The base offering involves a primary tranche of 103,448,277 new preferred shares and a secondary offering of 16,491,755 preferred shares, with an indicative price range between 11.60 reais and 13.40 reais per share.
* Banco CBSS SA changed its name to Digio, inspired by its flagship credit card of the same name, as the bank works to expand its customer base. Digio is open to a potential initial public offering in the medium term, but such a move would ultimately depend on investor sentiment, CEO Carlos Giovane Neves said.
Buyback season
* Banco Mercantil del Norte SA Institución de Banca Múltiple said about $205.4 million of its 5.750% subordinated preferred capital notes due 2031 were validly tendered as part of a cash repurchase offer that expired Oct. 3.
* Crédito Real SAB de CV Sociedad Financiera de Objeto Múltiple ER accepted for repurchase about $198.1 million of its 7.250% senior notes due 2023 as part of a cash tender offer that expired Oct. 9.
* Banco do Nordeste do Brasil SA's board approved a proposal to repurchase 250 million reais of the company's capital notes. The repurchase program is expected to run until the end of 2019.
Rating agency notes
* Moody's said that Caixa Econômica Federal's announced rate cuts on residential mortgages marketed mainly to low- and middle-income borrowers is credit positive for the bank. The lower rates will allow Caixa to have higher loan origination volume in its core product amid an expected rise in competition.
* Amid aggressive competition in Brazil's card payment acquiring market, the largest incumbent players in the sector still have the upper hand against new entrants from the financial technology segment, Moody's said. The leading companies have been cutting fees and lowering the cost of point-of-sale machines.
Cancelled plans
* Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria SA decided to cancel the planned sale of FORUM Servicios Financieros SA, its Chilean automobile financing unit, as the Spanish bank believes retaining ownership of the subsidiary will generate more value for shareholders, Diario Financiero reported, citing anonymous sources. BBVA likely received offers of approximately €600 million for FORUM, according to the report.
* BTG Pactual Holding SA canceled its plan to delist investment unit PPLA Participations Ltd. from Brazil's stock exchange, saying that an appraisal report failed to correctly reflect the company's value.
In other news
* Panamanian banking regulator SBP extended its administrative intervention at troubled AllBank Corp. for 30 additional days. The extension, which took effect Oct. 9, does not entail a contagion risk for the banking system, the SBP said.
* Banco Santander (Brasil) SA released 2022 projections for some indicators, noting that it expects loan portfolio growth of more than 10% that year. The bank also forecasts a 21% return on equity by 2022.
* Caixa Econômica Federal CEO Pedro Guimarães denied speculation that the Brazilian government is considering terminating the state-run bank's exclusivity in the management of the FGTS workers' fund.
* Brazil, Colombia and Mexico lead other Latin American countries in terms of promoting sustainable finance in the region, the International Finance Corp. said, noting that the three countries are in the advanced phase of implementing sustainable finance policies.
Featured this week on Market Intelligence
* Hires and Fires: A weekly rundown of executive management, board and other personnel moves at Latin American financial institutions.
* Ratings Roundup: A summary of various ratings actions on Latin American financial institutions and economies.
