* Brazilian Economy Minister Paulo Guedes denied media reports saying he is resigning from the cabinet in February 2020, once the pension reform is approved, Reuters reported. Traders say the Bovespa index fell 1.93% when reports of his resignation came out.
* Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador asked the country's finance ministry to design a potential tax reform for implementation in 2022, El Financiero reported, citing Deputy Finance Minister Gabriel Yorio. In the next two or three years, the government plans to not increase taxes and improve tax collection, Yorio said.
MEXICO AND CENTRAL AMERICA
* The World Bank recommended that Mexico change its fiscal coordination law to allow states and municipalities to have the resources to act quickly in the face of natural disasters, among other events, El Economista reported, citing Director for Mexico and Colombia Pablo Saavedra.
* Mexican central bank Governor Alejandro Díaz de León said that the low internal and external economic activity and low interest rates in other countries motivated the monetary authority to reduce the key rate during its last two meetings, El Financiero reported. Meanwhile, economists surveyed by Citibanamex expect the central bank to cut the key rate further by 25 basis points in November.
* 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 in a report. However, Moody's also believes competition between the two groups will further escalate, and could lead to scenarios such as players outdoing each other's price decreases, among others.
* Brazil's central bank filed a bill before Congress seeking to modernize the foreign exchange market, Reuters reported. The bill should help make it easier for foreign currency accounts to be opened in Brazil, and to lower costs on sending money into and out of the country, among other aims.
* Wiz Soluções e Corretagem de Seguros SA entered into a strategic partnership with Galápagos Capital Investimentos e Participações Ltda. to offer and distribute real-estate backed home equity loans, with Galápagos providing the funding for the loans.
* The board at Brazilian development bank Banco Nacional de Desenvolvimento Econômico e Social passed a resolution allowing the bank to reject early debt settlements requested by companies indebted to the bank, Valor Econômico reported, citing the country's official gazette.
* Caixa Econômica Federal CEO Pedro Guimarães denied the Brazilian government suggested the end of the bank's exclusivity in the management of the FGTS workers' fund, Valor Econômico reported. Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro said he will veto any amendment by Congress to break Caixa's monopoly, Estadão reported separately. O Globo previously reported that the government wants to allow private banks to enter the fund's operations.
* Brazil's competition watchdog CADE will resume its activity on Oct. 16 after President Jair Bolsonaro appointed Sérgio Costa Ravagnani as director, O Estado de S. Paulo reported.
* The tax reform approval, one of the promises of the Brazilian government, will not be made until 2020, due to the complexity of the issue and the tight schedule of Congress, Reuters reported, citing an unnamed source from the economic area. The source said the government's priority is to pass the pension reform program, which is still under discussion in the Senate.
* Banco Bradesco SA and Itaú Unibanco Holding SA strongly criticized and rejected construction conglomerate Odebrecht SA's judicial recovery plan, Folha de S.Paulo reported. Bradesco said "the proposal presented is a premium for default" while Itau said "debtors' recovery cannot be granted at any cost through vague and uncertain payment proposals."
* Just a few weeks before the Argentine presidential elections, President Mauricio Macri proposed a yearlong tax break for companies that hire employees between the ages of 17 and 24 who are seeking their first jobs, Reuters reported. The move is seen as a bid to gain ground among young voters, a sector Macri lost in the August primaries.
* Chile's exports registered a 6.1% drop in September to $5.21 billion, the lowest figure since April 2017, Diario Financiero reported, citing data from the central bank.
* Asia-Pacific: South Korea to audit Shinhan Financial; Deutsche Bank reshuffles India team
* Middle East & Africa: Egypt mulls slashing bourse fees; Lebanon seeks UAE backing; Uganda trims rate
* Europe: HKEX drops LSE bid; Wirecard ups targets; ECB warns on bank liquidity
* North America: Wisconsin banks to merge; Trump tweets impact perceptions for Fed policy
Pablo Jimenez Arandia 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. Links are current as of publication time, and we are not responsible if those links are unavailable later.
