* BM&FBOVESPA SA – Bolsade Valores Mercadorias e Futuros will ask banks for a loanof about 2.5 billion Brazilian reais in order to complete its recently announcedcash-and-stock merger with Cetip SA– Mercados Organizados, sources told Agência Estado's Broadcast newsservice. BM&FBOVESPA CEO Edemir Pinto said at a press conference that the amountto be paid in cash could rise to 85% from 75% under a provisionin the deal agreement that aims to protect Cetip's shareholders from changes inBM&FBOVESPA's stock price, Reuters reported.

MEXICO AND CENTRALAMERICA

* Mexico's FinanceMinistry said it will use funds from Bancode México to cut down on government debt issuance by at least 64 billionMexican pesos in 2016 and repurchaseup to 103 billion pesos of sovereign debt, Reuters reported. The central bank earliersaid it will transfer 239 billion pesos to the ministry from gains it made on U.S.dollar reserves in 2015.

* Guatemala's governmenthas hired Bank of America Merrill Lynch to manage the sale of up to $500 millionof bonds,El Periodico reported.

* Nacional Financiera SNC disbursed about 1.12 billion Mexicanpesos of loansduring the first two months of 2016, representing 12.4% of the 9 billion pesos itaims to disburse in the full year, El Economistareported.

BRAZIL

* Brazil's SupremeCourt granted an injunction requested by the Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sulthat allows the state to reducethe amount of debt repayments it makes to the national Treasury without incurringa penalty, Valor Econômico reported. Thefederal government could lose 27 billion Brazilian reais in revenue in 2016 if thedecision is extended to other states that are making similar requests.

* Brazil's governmenthas decided to delaysending a pension reform bill to Congress as it fights impeachment proceedings againstPresident Dilma Rousseff, O Estado de S.Pauloreported.

* The number of indebted Brazilianshas risen to 58.7 million from 54.6 million at the start of 2015, credit agencySPC Brasil said.

* Consumer delinquenciesin Brazil rose 2.8% inthe 12-month period through March, according to data from credit research firm BoaVista SPC. In the first quarter of 2016, consumer defaults in the country increased5.8% compared to the same period a year earlier.

* Banco Santander (Brasil) SA said it opened a for franchise businesses worth1 billion Brazilian reais, Diário ComércioIndústria & Serviços reported. The bank aims to double its numbers of customersin the area by the end of 2016.

* Banco Fator SA's brokerage arm, Fator SA Corretora de Valores, will stop handling clients'stocks and derivatives ordersin the wake of a contraction in Brazil's capital markets, Reuters reported. Thehead of Fator's brokerage operations, Rodolfo Froes, said the company is seekingto release capital that it can allocate to its public and corporate fixed-incomeoperations.

* The rising volumeof restructured loansin Brazil could be "understating loan delinquencies" among the country'sbanks while "overstating reserve coverage," Moody's said. Restructuredloans in Brazil increased 37% year over year at the end of 2015, the rating agencynoted, adding that local banks have been using loan restructurings to avoid recognizingnonperforming loans.

* A special lower housecommittee in Brazil voted in favor of recommending the impeachmentof President Dilma Rousseff on charges that she unlawfully financed a budget deficit,Bloomberg News reported. The full lower house could vote on the committee's recommendationas early as April 17.

* BM&FBOVESPA SA'srecent deal to acquire Cetip SA and its earlier purchase of a 4.1% stake in theMexican stock exchange are credit positive for the Brazilian stock exchange operatorbecause the transactions will enhance its revenue diversification and allow it toextend its dominance, Moody's said.

* Foreign investorsare ready to enter the Brazilian market as they believe the country now has improvedinstitutions and the global environment is also more favorablefor emerging-market assets, Valor Econômicoreported, citing Roberto Campos, Santander's treasury director for the Americas.

* Brazil's personalinsurance market registered29.76 billion Brazilian reais in premiums in 2015, representing growth of 7.63%compared to the previous year, Sonho Seguro reported, citing pension industry associationFenaPrevi.

ANDEAN

* expects to provide morethan 1.9 billion Peruvian soles in credit to micro and small agricultural producersin Peru in 2016 with the help of privateinvestors, Gestión reported,citing President Enrique Díaz.

* The Venezuelan SupremeCourt, which is staffed by supporters of President Nicolás Maduro, annulledan amnesty law that had sought to free around 80 political prisoners, The Wall Street Journal reported. The lawwas proposed by the opposition-controlled National Assembly.

* Grupo Aval Acciones y Valores SA posted netincome attributable to owners of the parent company of about 693.4 billion Colombianpesos for the fourth quarter of 2015, up 52.8% from 453.9 billion pesos in the year-agoperiod.

SOUTHERN CONE

* Former Argentine Economy Minister Axel Kicillof will provide testimonyin an investigation into money laundering allegations against former President CristinaFernández de Kirchner, Clarín reported.

* In a survey of Chilean banks by BancoCentral de Chile, 40% of the respondents said household demand for loansfell in the first quarter, while 46% also observed lower demand for mortgage credit,BNamericas reported.

* Creditors who waged a long legal battle against Argentina over its defaulteddebt will be the firstto receive payment when the country issues a new bond, expected to be priced April18, Reuters reported. Argentina has flagged various risksin marketing documents for the pending issuance, including collective action clauses,the Financial Times reported.

* Jorge Ramírez, the head of Bancodel Estado de Chile's brokerage arm, told Pulso that trade between Chile and Brazil will benefit if BM&FBOVESPASA decides to increase its stakein the Santiago Stock Exchange.

* Alvaro Saieh, the president of CorpGroup, acknowledged that merger negotiationsbetween CorpBanca and Banco Itaú Chile were difficult,especially in terms of protecting the interests of minority shareholders, Diario Financiero reported. The merged entity,Itaú CorpBanca, announcedthe appointmentof a new board, consisting of 11 directors and two alternates.

* Banco Macro SAand Banco Hipotecario SAboth observed moderate interestamong the Argentine public for a new form of inflation-indexed housing loans, Cronista reported. Most Argentine banks arestill in the process of defining the details of the new loans, which were recentlyannounced by the central bank.

PAN LATIN AMERICA

* Nomura Holdings Inc.plans to eliminate jobsin the Americas and Europe as the Japanese brokerage struggles to turn around itsoverseas operations, The Wall Street Journalreported, citing "people familiar with the matter."

* Moody's said it estimatesthat the global speculative-default rate will rise to 4.6% in one year from 3.8%currently, reaffirming the view that the corporate default cycle has turned andis on the rise.

IN OTHER PARTS OFTHE WORLD

* Canada's said it its ownership in India-basedjoint venture Birla Sun Life InsuranceCo. Ltd. to 49% from 26%.

* The said it decidedto keep the policy rate unchangedat 6% as inflation in the country climbs. The central bank said the inflation trendwas anticipated, adding that it still expects inflation to be benign for the restof 2016.

* The cybercrime unitof the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency is inspectingmore than 6,800 records of private financial data that were leaked by a Hong Kong-basedcriminal organization, Yonhap News Agency reported.

* IMF Managing DirectorChristine Lagarde said unconventional solutions"might be of great interest" to solve global tax evasion issues, but warnedthat a proposal to create an intergovernmental tax body under the United Nationswould face obstacles, The Guardian reports.Separately, the French government will push for a G-20 blacklistof tax havens and tougher EU penalties on individuals who encourage tax evasion,Reuters writes.

* Barclays Plc intends to sell approximately €13 billion ofperforming and nonperforming loans at its Italian unit, marking the last step ofits planned exit fromthe Italian retail business, Bloomberg News reports. Barclays Italy chief AlessandraPerrazzelli said the bank aims to close the disposal of the whole loan portfolioin one to two years.

Matthew Craze contributedto this article.

TheDaily Dose has an editorial deadline of 8:00 a.m. São Paulo time, and scans newssources published in English, Portuguese and Spanish. Some external links may requirea subscription.