* Itaú Unibanco Holding SA posted net income of 6.28 billion Brazilian reais in the fourth quarter of 2017, or 0.97 reais per share. This is 8.0% higher than the 5.82 billion reais, or 0.89 reais per share in the final quarter of 2016. Commissions and fees rose 8.3% to 8.65 billion reais year on year, while loan loss provisions went down 23.7% to 4.44 billion reais.
* Banco ABC Brasil S.A. reported recurring net income of 110.6 million Brazilian reais for the fourth quarter of 2017, slightly higher from the 108.5 million reais earned in the year-ago period. Service fees went up 20.4% to 83.7 million reais, while loan loss provisions were down 8.2% yearly to 50.8 million reais.
* Banco Bradesco SA named Octavio de Lazari Jr. CEO, replacing Luiz Carlos Trabuco Cappi, who will stay on as chairman. Lazari has served as executive vice president of Bradesco and as the head of Bradesco Seguros S.A., the insurance unit of the Brazilian banking giant.
MEXICO AND CENTRAL AMERICA
* Guatemala's acting central bank president, Sergio Recinos, told lawmakers the country's GDP was expected to expand between 3.0% and 3.8% in 2018 following slower-than-expected growth of 2.8% in 2017 when a political crisis hit investor sentiment, El Periodico reported.
* A Florida judge has defined the charges to be faced by Rafael Olvera Amezcua, the alleged mastermind of a multimillion-dollar fraud at bankrupt Mexican sofipo, or popular finance society, Ficrea, El Economista reported. He is expected to stand trial in November 2018, according to the Mexican judge handling Ficrea's insolvency, Javier Navarro-Velasco.
* The need for significant infrastructure investment in Mexico should underpin demand for credit regardless of who wins this year's presidential election, Carlos Rojo Macedo, general director of Grupo Financiero Interacciones SAB de CV, told El Economista. Interacciones specializes in financing infrastructure projects led by state and municipal authorities.
* Fraud stemming from online purchases with credit and debit cards accounts for almost half of all complaints against banks in Mexico, El Economista reported, citing the financial consumers' defense association Condusef. From January to September 2017, 4.8 million claims were registered for possible fraud with credit and debit cards, up 28% from the whole of 2016.
* Costa Rica's electoral tribunal said it has counted 75.1% of ballots in the presidential elections held Feb. 4, giving conservative candidate Fabricio Alvarado Muñoz 24.9% of votes and rival Carlos Alvarado Quesada 21.4% of votes, Reuters reported.
* Porto Seguro SA booked net income of 269.6 million reais for the fourth quarter of 2017, down 11.2% from 303.5 million reais a year earlier. The insurer noted its results were still affected by the country's severe economic crisis despite the end of the recession in the second half of 2017. Despite this, total written premiums for the fourth quarter grew slightly to 3.88 billion reais, and net earnings for 2017 were up 20.1% annually to 1.11 billion reais, boosted by the sale of shares in IRB-Brasil Resseguros SA.
* Itaú Unibanco Holding SA's board approved a payment on March 7 of 13.04 centavos per share as mandatory dividend for 2017, plus additional dividends of 96.38 centavos per share. The board also approved the payment of interest on capital for 2017 in the net amount of 97.65 centavos per share, inclusive of tax. Finally, it approved a payment of interest on capital in the net amount of 12.2825 centavos per share, which was declared on Nov. 30, 2017.
* While appointments of senior staff at Caixa Econômica Federal will require approval from the central bank based on a new statute approved Jan. 19, in practice the regulator still does not have veto power over the appointments, Valor Econômico reported.
* Consumer defaults in Brazil rose 1.6% in January from the previous month in seasonally adjusted terms, but fell 6.2% year over year, Diário Comércio Indústria & Serviços reported, citing data from credit research firm Boa Vista SCPC.
* Brazil's Cade anti-trust watchdog could soon open a probe into the country's card payment market and the vertical integration of banks, card operators and credit companies in the business, Valor Econômico reported.
* Banco Bradesco SA will launch its Habitat work space in Sao Paulo this week, part of a program aimed at fostering innovation throughout the bank that began five years ago, Diário Comércio Indústria & Serviços reported.
ANDEAN
* Peru's central bank is expected to cut its benchmark lending rate by another 25 basis points at its March monetary policy meeting, though it could move to trim the rate at this week's meeting, El Comercio reported, citing research by Banco de Crédito del Perú. The report said inflation would likely fall below the lower limit of the 1% target range in March or April.
* Demand for credit in Colombia is expected to recover in the second half of 2018, pointing to annual growth that is slightly above 6%, Portafolio reported, citing forecasts by the country's Financial Superintendency and the Asobancaria banking industry association. It said 2017 credit portfolio data is expected to show growth of 2% to 437.000 trillion Colombian pesos.
SOUTHERN CONE
* Chile's Banco Internacional SA has opened its new offices in the capital, Santiago, leaving its previous city center headquarters after 75 years, Diario Financiero reported.
* Chilean Finance Undersecretary Macarena Lobos said the IMACEC economic activity index's higher-than-expected 2.6% expansion in December 2017 showed that the economy was recovering, La Tercera reported. The index rose 2.9% in the fourth quarter year over year, its biggest increase since 2014.
* Demand for credit in pesos in Argentina showed no sign of slowing in January, with personal loans leading growth with an expansion of 57.6%, El Cronista reported, citing a report by consultancy firm First Capital Group based on central bank data. Credit increased 3.71% from December to reach 364.70 billion Argentine pesos.
* Uruguayan inflation accelerated to 6.67% in the 12 months through January, rising 2.71% compared to the previous month, El País reported, citing data from the country's statistics agency. The central bank's target range for inflation is between 3.0% and 7.0%.
* Asia-Pacific: Great Eastern in Malaysian M&A talks; Macquarie ups FY'18 profit guidance
* Middle East & Africa: First Abu Dhabi gets Saudi securities licence; Investec selling Irish unit
* Europe: Lloyds to cut 1,000 jobs; Munich Re FY'17 net profit drops
Helen Popper contributed to this article.
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