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Santander Brasil-HDI JV approved; Mexico gives nod to Swiss Re local ops

* Brazil's competition regulator Cade has approved, without restrictions, the formation of a joint venture between Banco Santander (Brasil) SA and HDI Seguros SA to create a new digital car insurance company called Santander Auto, Reuters reported. The regulator also said the deal does not raise concerns for competition in Brazil, and it also has no overlap as HDI Seguros only operates in the national motor insurance market and its market share does not hit 20%.

* Mexican insurance regulators authorized Swiss Re Corporate Solutions Ltd. to operate as a direct insurer in the country, through local subsidiary Swiss Re Corporate Solutions México Seguros, news magazine Intelligent Insurer reported. The new Swiss Re unit will offer multi-line insurance coverage to both mid-sized and large companies and government institutions, primarily for engineering and construction, among others.

MEXICO AND CENTRAL AMERICA

* Mexico's financial regulator CNBV has a transition period of six months to issue the first set of rules regulating the country's financial technology industry, El Economista reported. CNBV head Bernardo González said that the newly passed fintech law will grant the regulator the power to authorize companies to operate, and also to develop and issue secondary provisions that were not present in the first draft of the law. Mexican financial startups will work closely with authorities to help shape detailed regulations, the newswire added, citing Eduardo Guraieb, director of the FinTech Mexico association.

* Mexico's banking system is in good shape thanks to the financial reform implemented in 2013 and 2014, which fostered greater competitiveness and allowed credit portfolios to grow, CNBV head Bernardo González told El Economista in an interview. He noted that the sector's non-performing loan ratio was 2.1%, the lowest for 11 years.

* Kenneth Smith, Mexico's chief negotiator for the North American Free Trade Agreement talks, said that officials from Mexico, the U.S. and Canada are looking to meet up in the coming week to further discuss auto rules under the trade deal, Reuters reported.

* Guatemalan President Jimmy Morales announced the country will move its embassy in Israel to Jerusalem from Tel Aviv in May, following the same decision by the U.S. to move its own embassy, Reuters reported.

* Panama saw year-over-year GDP growth of 4.9% in the fourth quarter of 2017, Reuters reported. Full-year 2017 GDP was up 5.4% from 2016.

CARIBBEAN

* The U.S. State Department will permanently keep the number of employees for its embassy in Cuba at the minimum level as of March 5 due to "health attacks" against embassy personnel.

BRAZIL

* The Brazilian Supreme Court approved that an investigation into alleged illegal funds from construction firm Odebrecht to the Brazilian Democratic Party be expanded to investigate President Michel Temer, who was vice president at the time the alleged payment was made in 2014, Reuters reported.

* Brazilian credit fintech Geru plans to enter the payroll loan market by offering lower-rate loans to retirees receiving social security pensions, Reuters reported, citing Ana Carla Rodrigues, the company's payroll manager. Loans will be priced at 1.8% per month with a maximum borrowing amount of 80,000 reais.

* Brazil's largest pension fund, Caixa de Previdencia dos Funcionarios do Banco do Brasil, or Previ, is taking steps to improve corporate governance to safeguard its investments, Previ's director Cecília Garcez told Diário Comércio Indústria & Serviços in an interview. Among the steps include the development of an integrity rating where investments will be analyzed with governance criteria.

ANDEAN

* Itaú CorpBanca CEO Milton Maluhy said he expects the bank to reach its profitability goals in Colombia in 2018, after ending 2017 with a -3.4% return on equity and a net loss attributable to shareholders of about 17.62 billion Chilean pesos for the fourth quarter, Diario Financiero reported. Meanwhile, Maluhy said Itaú CorpBanca would not need to bolster its capitalization levels to meet the requirements of Chile's new banking law, while separately pointing to results in the upcoming May presidential elections as Colombia's "main risk."

* Peruvian Agriculture Minister José Arista said the government could strengthen the country's Agroperú fund to help finance the country's farmers if the troubled state-run lender Banco Agropecuario is forced to halt credit operations, El Comercio reported. He said the government was prepared to pump additional resources into the fund.

* Peru's state-owned development bank Corporación Financiera de Desarrollo SA aims to increase long-term infrastructure financing and focus on lending to small and medium-sized companies as it seeks to boost income, the entity's president, Pedro Grados, told El Comercio in an interview.

* Peru's economy is expected to grow 3.5% over the next 12 months, slowing from January's forecast for 3.6%, SEMANAeconómica reported, citing the central bank's latest macroeconomic outlook survey among economic analysts.

* Colombian fintech firm Gulungo has secured $5.0 million in financing that will be available for small and medium-sized companies with annual revenue of between 300.0 million and 3.00 billion Colombian pesos, Portafolio reported, citing co-founder of the company, Juan Esteban Saldarriaga. He said the company had identified a potential customer base of some 30,000 businesses.

* Moody's revised its outlook on the ratings of Colombia's Banco Davivienda SA to negative from stable, reflecting the deterioration of the bank's asset risk and profitability metrics over the past year, a trend that is expected to continue based on slow recovery expected for economic growth in the country.

SOUTHERN CONE

* Jorge Cayazzo, supervisory manager at Chilean banking and financial industry regulator SBIF, has left his position to take a role at professional services firm Deloitte, Diario Financiero reported. Luis Figueroa, current regulation head in SBIF, will take over Cayazzo's position.

* Argentina's credit market is expected to slow after credit in pesos to the private sector grew 17% in 2017, partly as a result of far slower growth in bank deposits, El Cronista reported. Private sector deposits in local currency grew just 1% in real terms last year, gradually reducing the sources of funding available to banks.

* Economists' expectations for Argentine inflation rose for the 10th month in a row in February, moving even further above the official target for 15% this year, El Cronista reported, citing the central bank's latest market survey. The survey's median forecast for 2018 rose by half a percentage point to 19%, while GDP growth was seen at 2.7%, down from 3% a month ago.

* Chilean legislation to overhaul the country's banking industry regulations will not be approved before the new government of President-elect Sebastian Piñera takes office next week, Diario Financiero reported, citing "experts on the matter." They add that the incoming administration could make changes to the draft bill. It said the bill's references to the lifting of banking secrecy could be subject to alterations.

PAN LATIN AMERICA

* Paraguay Foreign Minister Eladio Loizaga said that talks between the Mercosur trade bloc and the European Union for a new free-trade agreement could be finished over the next "two to three weeks," noting some "sensitive issues" like automobiles will still be worked on, Reuters reported.

IN OTHER PARTS OF THE WORLD

* Asia-Pacific: China plans economic supervision overhaul; Australian asset manager mulls M&A

* Middle East & Africa: Angola hikes capital requirements for banks; Netanyahu opposes early elections

* Europe: Axa agrees to buy XL Group for $15.3B; Germany's Merkel secures 4th term

Helen Popper contributed to this article.

The Daily Dose has an editorial deadline of 8:00 a.m. São Paulo time, and scans news sources published in English, Portuguese and Spanish. Some external links may require a subscription.