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Credicorp Chile $100M investment program; Brazil banks react to truckers strike

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Credicorp Chile $100M investment program; Brazil banks react to truckers strike

* Credicorp Capital Chile will execute a $100 million investment program over the next three years that includes an organizational restructuring and management reshuffling, Diario Financiero reported. Hugo Horta will become the new country head for Chile, while Heinrich Lessau and Guido Riquelme will serve as director of the corporate finance division and head of the company's brokerage unit, respectively.

* Banco Bradesco SA CEO Octavio de Lazari Jr. said an ongoing truckers strike in Brazil, which has entered its ninth day, has so far had only a limited impact on the bank as the majority of its transactions take place online, Diário Comércio Indústria & Serviços reported. Banco do Brasil SA CEO Paulo Caffarelli, meanwhile, said the strike has not had an impact on the bank's credit disbursements or its default indicators, the publication reported separately. The bank currently has no plans to revise its loan growth guidance for 2018, he added.

MEXICO AND CENTRAL AMERICA

* Banco Santander (México) SA Institución de Banca Múltiple appointed Ricardo Alonso Fernandez deputy general director of risk, effective in June. Alonso, who has been with the bank since 1994, replaces Roberto d'Empaire Muskus in the new role.

* Mexican central bank chief Alejandro Diaz de Leon said the bank could take measures to support the local currency if liquidity dries out, Reuters reported. The bank will continue striving for "low and stable" inflation regardless of the result of July's presidential election, he added.

* Carlos Djemal Nehmad, a former partner and part-owner of Mexico's Accendo Banco, SA Institución de Banca Múltiple, pleaded guilty to U.S. charges that he illegally acquired $21 million in tax refunds from Mexico's government, Reuters reported. He has been sentenced to six years and three months in prison.

* The Mexican Institute of Finance Executives has proposed to dissolve the country's exchange commission, an entity composed of officials from the central bank and the finance ministry, in order to give the central bank more autonomy in monetary policy and exchange rate decisions, El Economista reported.

BRAZIL

* Brazilian President Michel Temer said a countrywide truckers' protest that has brought activity in some sectors to a standstill will not lead to military intervention or a toppling of his administration, Reuters reported. Polls show that Temer, who is under investigation for graft allegations, is the country's least popular president since the 1964-85 military junta ended.

* PagSeguro Digital Ltd. booked first-quarter net income of 148.5 million reais, up 144.9% from 60.6 million reais in the year-ago period. Net revenue from transaction activities and other services jumped 132.6% year over year to about 442.8 million reais, while financial income grew 98.0% to 274.8 million reais.

* Brazil's Senate passed a bill that exempts diesel from the PIS/Cofins payroll and social security tax as part of efforts to assuage truckers who have gone on strike, Reuters reported. However, President Michel Temer is expected to veto a diesel provision added by the lower chamber since it does not reduce the price by the agreed-upon 46 cents per liter.

* The presidents of state-run banks Banco do Brasil SA and Banco Nacional de Desenvolvimento Econômico e Social warned against the government's use of state banks to fulfill political purposes, saying that previous attempts to use public lenders to lower interest rates had failed, Reuters reported.

* The São Paulo federal prosecutor's office has filed a lawsuit against Agiplan Financeira SA, an affiliate of Banco Agibank SA, alleging abusive charges and a lack of transparency in the company's contracts with clients, Reuters reported. The lawsuit also names the central bank as a defendant, claiming that the authority did not take any action against the lender despite receiving hundreds of complaints.

* Banco Nacional de Desenvolvimento Econômico e Social announced an investment package of 5 billion reais for infrastructure funds and an additional 1 billion reais for placement in receivables funds of micro and small enterprises, Valor Econômico reported, citing President Dyogo Oliveira.

ANDEAN

* S&P Global Ratings removed Venezuela's long- and short-term local currency sovereign credit ratings from CreditWatch with negative implications and affirmed them at CCC- and C, respectively. The actions reflect S&P's expectation that Venezuela's government will continue its monetary financing, which makes the timing of default on its domestic debt "less uncertain."

* S&P Global Ratings affirmed Ecuador's B-/B long- and short-term foreign and local currency sovereign credit ratings, with a stable outlook. S&P expects the country to gradually lower its fiscal deficit to ensure financing from both official and commercial external lenders ahead of the next principal sovereign bond payment due in 2020.

* The chief of the Organization of American States said the bloc will submit evidence to the International Criminal Court showing that Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro's government committed "crimes against humanity," Reuters reported.

* Peru's BBVA Banco Continental SA and Corporación Financiera de Desarrollo SA are increasing financing for small and medium-sized enterprises as credit demand from the segment rebounds following a stagnant 2017, El Comercio reported.

* Colombian authorities are preparing new regulations that would enable private equity funds to issue bonds and allow their shares to trade in the secondary market, Portafolio reported, citing a draft document from the country's financial regulation unit.

* Total operating income for Colombia's insurance sector increased 7.45% year over year in the first quarter as the number of new policies issued rose 4.2%, La Republica reported, citing regulatory data.

SOUTHERN CONE

* Chilean banking regulator SBIF said it continues to monitor Banco de Chile following a May 24 system failure due to a computer virus, adding that it is working to determine the risk of such an event happening again. The SBIF will evaluate the failure's impact on the bank's clients and actions taken by the lender to resolve the issue.

* The Argentine peso, which is down 26% against the U.S. dollar year to date, presents a wide range of FX volatility and liquidity risks for corporates, Fitch Ratings said, adding that these risks are driven by currency mismatches in the revenue and costs structure, as well as debt obligation composition. Recent currency exchange volatility and the central bank's rate hikes could affect local and regional governments by temporarily increasing market refinancing risk and shifting their financing sources, the rating agency said separately.

* Argentina's Banco de Inversión y Comercio Exterior SA and Banco de la Ciudad de Buenos Aires signed an accord to channel $30 million in financing to small and medium-sized companies, El Cronista reported.

* Paraguay signed an agreement with the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development to fight financial fraud and tax evasion, La Nación reported.

* Grupo Security SA hired former Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria Chile SA executive Eduardo Olivares Veloso to head the company's new digital business development division, Diario Financiero reported.

PAN LATIN AMERICA

* Moody's expects global economic growth to continue in 2018, but moderate by year-end as a number of countries approach full employment and credit conditions tighten amid rising interest rates.

IN OTHER PARTS OF THE WORLD

* Asia-Pacific: Ant Financial closes US$10B fundraising; China's Huifu to launch HK IPO in June

* Middle East & Africa: More Middle Eastern firms explore M&A; African states to discuss Chinese yuan

* Europe: Italy crisis knocks bank shares; Deutsche Börse buys FX trading platform

Helen Popper contributed to this article.

This S&P Global Market Intelligence news article may contain information about credit ratings issued by S&P Global Ratings, a separately managed division of S&P Global. Descriptions in this news article were not prepared by S&P Global Ratings.

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