* Banco Sofisa SAlaunched its planned public tenderoffer in an effort to delist the bank from market trading. Through theoffer, the bank hopes to acquire up to 13,187,965 shares, consisting of 11,989,865outstanding shares and 1,198,100 shares held by bank management, at 4.50 Brazilianreais per share.

* Mexico's Grupo FinancieroInbursa SAB de CV bought €100 million worth of shares in Spain's , equivalent to a roughly0.75% stake, Reuters reported,citing "a source with knowledge of the operation." The purchase was partof a €1.3 billion share auction launched by CaixaBank to bolster its capital reserves.

MEXICO ANDCENTRAL AMERICA

* AnalystsexpectMexican central bank Banco de Méxicoto hike its benchmark interest rate by 50 or 75 basis points at a meeting scheduledfor Sept. 29, which would send a clear signal to the market that the bank is committedto fighting inflation, El Economista reported.

CARIBBEAN

* S&P Global Ratings loweredits long-term foreign and local currency sovereign ratings on Barbados to B- fromB, while keeping the outlook at negative. The downgrade reflects the erosion ofthe government's financial profile over the last several years due to persistentlyhigh fiscal deficits, which reflect both budget slippage and unbudgeted spending.

BRAZIL

* Marcos Fugise head of PartnerReBrazil and representative of PartnerRe's office in São Paulo, pending regulatoryapproval. He succeeds outgoing head of PartnerRe Brazil, David Preti, who has requestedto return to Europe for personal reasons.

* Brazilianstate-run bank Banco do Brasil SA'spension fund, Previ, has decided to exercise its right to sellits 19.28% stake in energy firm CPFL Energia SA to State Grid Brazil Power ParticipaçõesLtda. according to a CPFL statement.

* The BrazilianSupreme Court approved the launch of a preliminary probeinto allegations that campaign donations requested by President Michel Temer in2012 had illegal origins, Reuters reported. The allegations stem from a plea bargaindeal struck by the former head of Transpetro, a unit of state-run oil firm Petrobras.The investigation also cites Senate President Renan Calheiros, among others.

* Renato Ejnisman,the head of Banco Bradesco SA'sinvestment banking unit, said the company is looking to gain market share in Brazilas foreign banks retreatfrom the country, Valor Econômico reported.The bank's recent purchase of HSBCBank Brasil SA - Banco Múltiplo will allow it to enhance its wholesalebanking business, according to the executive. The publication reported separatelythat HSBC Holdings Plchas received authorization to operate as an investmentbank in Brazil following the sale of its Brazilian unit. The company has injected1 billion reais of new capital in its remaining operations in the country.

* said in areport that although Brazil's economy has shown some signs of a recovery, the riskof a credit crisis is far from over, InfoMoney reported. Credit Suisse estimatesthat the country's banking sector is struggling with 434 billion reais of bad corporateloans.

ANDEAN

* FitchRatings affirmed its long- and short-term national ratings on Instituto para el Desarrollo de Antioquia at AAA(col) andF1+(col), respectively, while revisingthe outlook on the long-term rating to negative from stable. The outlook revisionis aligned with the outlook change that was made to the Colombian state of Antioquiaearlier in September.

* Colombia'sFARC rebels unanimously approveda peace agreement they reached with the government in August, under which the rebelswill form a new political party that will get 10 unelected seats in Congress until2026, Reuters reported.

* Bank creditto the private sector in Peru increased 6.2% in August from a year ago, slowingfrom annual growth of 7.7% in July, Gestiónreported, citing Banco Central deReserva del Perú. Commercial loans grew 4.4% year over year in August,while personal loans increased 9.4%.

* The overallloan delinquency rate for Peruvian banks reached 2.91% at the end of August, increasingby 0.22 percentage point compared to a year ago, El Comercio reported, citing local banking association Asbanc. The risewas drivenby higher arrears on loans to large and medium-sized enterprises.

SOUTHERNCONE

* Argentine President Mauricio Macri has forced Juan Miguel Cuattromoto step down as a director of BancoCentral de la República Argentina, according to the country's officialgazette. Cuattromo was appointed by the previous government in September 2015 toreplace Waldo José Farías. His initial appointment was for six years, until September2021, but Macri said the decisionwas "illegal" since by law the director should only have been appointedto complete Farías' term, which would have ended in September 2016.

* The Inter-American DevelopmentBank approved a $100 million loanfor Chile to help the government implement an initiative to promote transparencyin politics and business, Chile's finance ministry said.

* Argentine securities commission CNV approved the creation of four open investmentfunds where people who are participating in a government amnesty program forundeclared assets can place their cash, ElCronista reported.

IN OTHERPARTS OF THE WORLD

* Asia-Pacific:Pakistan keeps policy rate steady;Goldman Sachs cuts jobs in Asia

* Middle East& Africa: Algeria's privatizationpush; Ghana's M&A drive

* Europe:

* North America:Scam at Wells aggravated by arbitrationclauses, say senators; Stumpf may walk away with $74M regardless

S&P GlobalRatings and S&P Global Market Intelligence are owned by S&P Global Inc.

Paula Mejia contributed to this article.

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