* Argentine consumer defense association ADUC has filed a class-actionlawsuit against over the exchange rate applied by the bank to sales of foreign exchange for traveland tourism abroad, Grupo FinancieroGalicia SA said. The bank believes that an unfavorable resolution ofthe case will not have a significant impact on its shareholders equity.

MEXICO AND CENTRAL AMERICA

* The OECD urged Panama to immediately align itself withinternational tax transparency standardsfollowing the Panama Papers leak, BNamericas reported. "Panama is the lastmajor holdout that continues to allow funds to be hidden offshore from tax and lawenforcement authorities," OECD Secretary-General Angel Gurría reportedly said.

* Panamanian President Juan Carlos Varela said the governmentwill create an autonomous commission to evaluatethe country's financial practices following the Panama Papers leak, Reuters reported.

* Infonacot, an agency that provides credit to the working classin Mexico, plans to raise about 1.95 billion Mexican pesos through the sale of athree-year bondon April 8, El Financiero reported.

* Mexico's SociedadHipotecaria Federal SNC will launch a program to provide guaranteesto financial institutions for their loans to small- and medium-sized housing developers,El Economista reported, citing GeneralManager Jesús Alberto Cano Vélez. The move aims to encourage lenders to providefinancing to the sector.

* The growth of demand depositsat Mexican banks slowed to 12.2% in January from 14.8% in the previous month, El Economista reported, citing BBVA Research.

* The total credit portfolioof the Mexican savings and loan cooperatives sector fell 53.2% annually at the endof 2015, El Economista reported, citingdata from local banking and securities commission CNBV.

* MetLife Inc.will invest200 million Mexican pesos to open a global distributions center in Querétaro, Mexico,El Financiero reported. The office willbecome operational in the fourth quarter.

CARIBBEAN

* Puerto Rican Governor Alejandro Garcia Padilla on April6 signed an emergency billthat permits the government to stop making debt payments, Reuters reported.

BRAZIL

* Savings withdrawalsin Brazil exceeded deposits by around 5.38 billion Brazilian reais in March, accordingto data from Banco Central do Brasil.This is the third consecutive month where withdrawals surpassed deposits in thecountry.

* Banco BradescoSA's Bradesco SegurosSA is in advanced talkswith Swiss Re Ltd. tolaunch a large-risk insurance joint venture, Agência Estado reported, citing sourcesclose to the negotiations. Swiss Re would reportedly hold a 60% stake in the venture,while Bradesco Seguros would have the remaining 40% stake.

* In the coming days, CetipSA – Mercados Organizados is set to accept an overhauled unsolicited merger offer from , Reuters reported, citing "a source with direct knowledgeof the matter." The source did not divulge the agreed-to price for the latestmerger proposal, which follows two earlier offers from BM&FBOVESPA, both ofwhich were rejected.

* Elizabeth Littlefield, president of U.S.-based , toldBNamericas that Brazil has a solid long-term economic outlookcompared to other nations in Latin America. The executive noted, however, that thecountry does face "daunting challenges" in the short term.

* A congressional report in Brazil has recommended that impeachmentproceedings against President Dilma Rousseff move forward, according to BloombergNews.

* In a letter to shareholders, JPMorgan Chase & Co. Chairman and CEO Jamie Dimon saidthe bank has a publicly disclosed exposureto Brazil of about $11 billion, but it might lose $2 billion in the event of extremestress. The company is not retreating from Brazil since the country's long-termprospects are "probably fine," the executive said.

* China ConstructionBank Corp. has requested permission from Chinese regulators to inject$200 million of capital in Brazilian unit ChinaConstruction Bank (Brasil) Banco Múltiplo S/A, Valor Econômico reported. The move follows two consecutive years oflosses for the Brazilian subsidiary. China Construction Bank expects to receiveapproval for the injection by the end of the first half.

* Banco Central do Brasil appointed a committee to investigatethe financial collapse of Banco Aztecado Brasil SA, which has been in extrajudicial liquidation since January,Diario de Pernambuco reported.

ANDEAN

* ScotiabankPerú SAA appointed Miguel Uccelli as vice chairman of the board andOscar Espinosa as an independent director, Gestiónreported. James Meek andSantiago Perdomo were re-elected as board chairman and director, respectively.

* Jorge Ramos Raygada is stepping down as general manager ofAFP Integra to assume the CEOposition at Sura Asset Management Perú, Gestiónreported. Raygada will continue as a director at AFP Integra, but will be replacedby Aldo Ferrini as the company's general manager.

SOUTHERN CONE

* Banco dela Provincia de Buenos Aires employees conducted a work stoppage andblocked some of the bank'sbranches in Argentina as part of a protest against layoffs and low wages, Cronista reported. Argentina's banking unionhas called for a national strike on April 14 to demand a wage increase greater than30% and the reinstatement of dismissed workers.

* Daniel Pollack, the special master presiding over settlementnegotiations between Argentina and its bondholders, said the country signed agreementsin principle with creditors Red Pines and Spinnaker for an aggregate of just under$250 million.

PAN LATIN AMERICA

* London-based Contego Underwriting, which provides insuranceand reinsurance services to the construction and engineering sectors, said it openedan officein Miami to cater to a growing Latin American market, BNamericas reported.

IN OTHER PARTS OF THEWORLD

* CreditSuisse Group AG has stepped up its hiringspree in Asia Pacific, as CEO Tidjane Thiam said it is the best time to attracttalent while rival financial institutions are retreating from the region, BloombergNews reported. The lender added50 bankers in Australia in 2016, The Australianreported separately, citing John Knox, Credit Suisse Australia chief.

* Indian banks will rejectVijay Mallya's offer to repay 40 billion rupees, or nearly half the amount his defunctKingfisher Airlines owes to the lenders, Reuters reported, citing sources with knowledgeof the matter. The banks, led by StateBank of India, will announce the decision at a Supreme Court hearing.

* Australia Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull lashedout at major banks in the country for ill-treating their customers, The Australian reported. The premier warnedthe lenders that such conduct could endanger their social licenses.

* The Basel Committee on Banking Supervision launched a consultation on proposed revisions to the Basel III leverageratio framework. The committee said a higher leverage ratio for global systemicallyimportant banks may be necessary to maintain the relative roles of the risk-basedratio and the leverage ratio in the regulatory capital framework. Reuters notesthat the proposed changes include softercapital requirements for banks with large derivatives portfolios.

* Iceland appointed Fisheries Minister Sigurður Ingi Jóhannssonprime minister and called for early elections in the autumn, Reuters reports. Thedevelopment followed the resignationof Sigmundur Davíð Gunnlaugsson as prime minister in the aftermath of the PanamaPapers.

Paula Mejia contributedto this article.

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