* CAIXA Seguridade Participações SA, the insurance and pensions unit of Caixa Econômica Federal, is no longer planning an IPO in the near future and the offering is unlikely to take place in 2017, Reuters reported, citing CAIXA Seguridade CEO Raphael Rezende Neto. The company is now focusing on overhauling its sales channels in order to improve profitability. "The IPO is no longer on our agenda," the executive said.
* Javier González Fraga, the recently appointed president of Banco de la Nación Argentina, underwent an emergency angioplasty surgery on Feb. 1 and is expected to make a full recovery, El Cronista reported. His appointment at the bank was formalized through a Feb. 2 notice in the government's official gazette.
MEXICO AND CENTRAL AMERICA
* Panama's Towerbank International Inc. said it plans to offer six-month negotiable bonds worth up to $2 million. The series S bond, to be issued Feb. 10, will carry an annual interest rate of 3.0%, payable on a monthly basis.
* Banco Panameño de la Vivienda SA in the coming days plans to launch an offering for two series of six-month bonds worth a total of up to $6 million. The bank will issue series AZ bonds worth up to $5 million on Feb. 8 and series BA bonds worth up to $1.0 million on Feb. 10.
* Mexico's banking sector posted overall profits of 107 billion Mexican pesos in 2016, up 8.3% from the previous year, El Financiero reported, citing local banking and securities commission CNBV.
* Mexico received around $35 billion of capital from global investment funds in 2016, nearly double the amount captured in 2015, El Economista reported, citing estimates from the Institute of International Finance.
BRAZIL
* Bankruptcy requests in Brazil declined 33.9% in January compared to the prior month and fell 12.2% compared to a year-ago, according to data from credit research firm Boa Vista SCPC.
* Banco Bradesco SA expects its nonperforming loans and provision expenses to slow down toward the second half of 2017, executives said during an earnings conference call. The bank also foresees greater reduction in provisions levels in 2018, which should allow the lender to come back to its ROE of between 18% and 20%. Executives also said the bank's capital levels are comfortable enough to meet new BIS requirements in the coming years.
* Brazil could see a third year of recession in 2017, but if Congress agrees to a proposed pension reform, the economy could post growth of more than 1% for the year, Reuters reported, citing a senior member of the government's economic team. "The pension reform will be the real test," the official said. "It either works or it does not ... If it doesn't work then we will have negative growth."
* Brazil's government plans to submit a bill to Congress in the first half to relax restrictions on foreign acquisitions of agricultural real estate in an effort to revive economic growth, Agriculture Minister Blairo Maggi told Reuters in an interview.
* Net inflows into Brazilian investment funds totaled 109.1 billion reais in 2016, the highest level for the industry since 2010, as investors became less risk averse amid expectations that the country will emerge from recession in 2017, Moody's said. "While the outlook for flows is uncertain for 2017, we do expect a shift in allocation as Brazilian policy makers have recently started to cut interest rates," said Diego Kashiwakura, a vice president and senior analyst at the rating agency.
* Banco Bradesco SA disclosed guidance for 2017 on a pro-forma basis for the HSBC Brasil acquisition, saying it expects its expanded loan portfolio to grow between 1% and 5%. Net interest income could either fall by up to 4% or post zero growth, while fee and commission income is seen increasing between 7% and 11%. CEO Luiz Carlos Trabuco Cappi said the bank's 2017 projections are conservative, Valor Econômico reported.
* Swiss authorities said they will only start automatically sharing tax information with Brazil in 2019, later than Brazilian authorities had hoped, as an agreement between the two countries still requires parliamentary approvals and public consultations in Switzerland, Valor Econômico reported.
ANDEAN
* Banco Central de Reserva del Perú purchased $96 million in Peru's spot market on Feb. 2 as the local currency strengthened 0.67% against the U.S. dollar, Reuters reported.
* Banco Ripley Perú SA placed 50 million Peruvian soles worth of series B corporate bonds carrying an interest rate of 7%, Gestión reported. Demand for the notes, which mature in 2019, reached 86.9 million soles.
SOUTHERN CONE
* Grupo Supervielle SA said unit Banco Supervielle SA completed an international issuance of a 3.5-year global bond denominated in Argentine pesos worth the equivalent of $300 million. The notes will accrue interest at Badlar plus 450 basis points with a minimum coupon rate of 18%. The book was oversubscribed.
* Argentina intends to sell between $1.5 billion to $2 billion of Swiss franc bonds in 2017, Reuters reported, citing Finance Minister Luis Caputo. The notes will be offered in two to three issuances, one of which will take place in the first three months of the year.
* Argentine Treasury Minister Nicolas Dujovne said the government expects to see a twofold increase in foreign direct investment in 2017 from the previous year partly due to impending renewable energy auctions, Reuters reported.
* The volume of loans granted by banks in Paraguay increased 1.3% annually in December 2016, higher than the 1.1% growth rate seen in the previous month, La Nación reported, citing central bank data. The sector's nonperforming loan ratio fell to 2.7% in December 2016 from 3.2% in the previous month.
IN OTHER PARTS OF THE WORLD
* Asia-Pacific: Bank of England holds rates; ASEAN governments ramp up spending
* Middle East & Africa: Loan cap weighs on Kenya growth; Emirates NBD sees retail lending surge
Helen Popper contributed to this article.
The Daily Dose has an editorial deadline of 8 a.m. São Paulo time, and scans news sources published in English, Portuguese and Spanish. Some external links may require a subscription.