* Argentine President Mauricio Macri said he regards the recent crisis in the foreign exchange market to have ended, Reuters reported. Macri also called on the government to hasten efforts in reducing deficit. Meanwhile, stocks and bonds in Argentina rose on May 16, but the local currency ended slightly weaker at 24.29 pesos per dollar. It was the first trading day since May 9 that the central bank decided not to sell reserves to support the weakening local currency.
* Grupo Aval Acciones y Valores SA reported net income attributable to owners of the parent company of 597.7 billion Colombian pesos for the first quarter of 2018, slightly up from 587.0 billion pesos a year earlier. Net interest income was up 7.4% yearly to 2.73 billion pesos.
MEXICO AND CENTRAL AMERICA
* Banco de México Governor Alejandro Díaz de León said that hackers stole about 300 million pesos via fraudulent transfers from three banks, one brokerage and one credit union, with an unknown amount stolen in withdrawals, Reuters reported. Earlier estimates showed 400 million pesos was stolen during the cyberattacks.
* Mexican central bank chief Alejandro Díaz de León said the resignation of Lorenza Martínez, head of payment systems and corporate services at the regulator, was submitted before a series of cyberattacks rocked the country's banking sector in April, El Financiero reported. The resignation, which is effective May 18, has nothing to do with those cyberattacks, Díaz said.
* Mexican economic minister Ildefonso Guajardo commented it was not impossible for an updated North American Free Trade Agreement to be reached beyond May, even if negotiators would be unable to reach one by the end of the week, Reuters reported. Meanwhile, trade experts say the White House could still alter the NAFTA's important provisions outside of rules that set deadlines for congressional action.
* Fitch Ratings believes Mexican corporates' robust liquidity metrics will enable them to cope with short-term risks amid talks to rework the NAFTA. However, if the trade deal is scrapped, the same corporates could see negative rating actions due to a slowdown in growth, weaker investor confidence, lower foreign direct investment and currency pressures, although Fitch noted that geographic diversification for Mexican corporates has improved over the past decade, and this should prevent widespread deterioration in credit quality.
* The monetary policy committee of Brazil's central bank kept the Selic rate unchanged at 6.50% per year, noting that measures of underlying inflation have been running at low levels. The bank said that the monetary policy committee's inflation projections are at 3.6% and 3.9% for 2018 and 2019, respectively. Brazil's benchmark rates contradicted analysts' projections of a rate cut, Reuters reported.
* In a span of a few days, Itaú Unibanco Holding SA further reduced its overdraft rates by another 40 basis points to 11.50%, despite the central bank's decision to keep the Selic rate, Valor Econômico reported.
* Brazil's economic activity in the first quarter declined 0.13% compared to the linked quarter, while the index for the month of March declined 0.74% from February, according to central bank data. Economists surveyed by the central bank revised their GDP growth forecast for the year to 2.51%, compared to 2.76% a month ago, Folha de S. Paulo added.
* Financial technology firm Neon Pagamentos said it has resumed the registration process for new customers following the company's recently announced partnership with Banco Votorantim SA, Valor Econômico reported. Neon Pagamentos was prohibited from opening new accounts earlier in May when its former partner, Banco NEON SA, was liquidated.
* Banco Nacional de Desenvolvimento Econômico e Social has created a project structuring division to help streamline and guide the investment cycle for public sector infrastructure projects, Valor Econômico reported, citing BNDES President Dyogo Oliveira.
* Financing for the purchase of new vehicles in Brazil increased 39.2% year over year in April, but fell 2.5% compared to the previous month, Diário Comércio Indústria e Serviços reported, citing a survey by B3 SA – Brasil, Bolsa, Balcão.
ANDEAN
* Peruvian Finance Minister David Tuesta forecast growth of between 5% and 6% for the months of April and May, following growth of 3.93% for March, Reuters reported.
SOUTHERN CONE
* Chile's central bank warned that a global risk aversion trend toward emerging markets, which could cause an "abrupt deterioration" in external financing conditions, continues to be an external risk for Chile's economy. However, the regulator noted that it did not detect any important disruptive trends within the Chilean financial system, and that users and credit providers should both be able to accommodate the impacts of different stress scenarios.
* Banco del Estado de Chile said it placed debt in the Hong Kong and Japanese markets for a total amount equivalent to US$195 million. The bank issued US$76 million of debt in Hong Kong and US$119 million in Japan.
* Uruguay's central bank said it expects the country to post GDP growth of around 2% year over year in the first quarter, El Observador reported. Official GDP data for the period is due to be published in June.
* Uruguay's banks are working to ensure that money transfers will be authenticated and completed in less than 10 seconds in accordance with the country's financial inclusion law, El Observador reported, citing Eduardo Barbieri, general manager of the Bevsa securities exchange.
PAN LATIN AMERICA
* Colombia's Grupo Coomeva will expand into Chile, Mexico and Peru by launching a new insurance company, La República reported, citing the company's president, Alfredo Arana. The company plans to enter the Chilean market in the second half of 2018 and plans to invest in Mexico and Peru in 2019.
IN OTHER PARTS OF THE WORLD
* Asia-Pacific: US SEC fines ICBC unit; Thailand holds rate; Malaysia raids former PM's house
* Middle East & Africa: Saudi lenders Alawwal, SABB to merge; National Commercial Bank CEO steps down
* Europe: Deutsche Börse to shed managers; NN Group, KBC post Q1; AIB selling bad loans
* North America: KS, First Citizens settle; Vista Equity, Thoma Bravo seek billions in funds
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