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BTG probed over Brazil key rate leaks; Caixa, Banco do Brasil vs. Odebrecht

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BTG probed over Brazil key rate leaks; Caixa, Banco do Brasil vs. Odebrecht

* Brazilian federal police raided Banco BTG Pactual SA's headquarters as part of an investigation into the alleged leaking of central bank monetary policy decisions between 2010 and 2012, Reuters reported. The probe also involves former senior officials from the central bank and the finance ministry. BTG Pactual denied any wrongdoing, saying the investigation was related to the Bintang FIM investment fund, managed by a professional trader, whom the bank denied was its employee. BTG's shares fell 2.9% around midday Oct. 3 as news of the raid came out.

* Caixa Econômica Federal requested a Brazilian court to declare construction giant Odebrecht SA bankrupt, and therefore allow creditors to appoint directors to the conglomerate and its units, O Estado de S. Paulo reported. Caixa's exposure to Odebrecht is about 2.2 billion reais.

* Banco do Brasil SA has requested a São Paulo court to annul the judicial recovery proceedings of scandal-hit construction conglomerate Odebrecht SA, Folha de S.Paulo reported. Banco do Brasil's complaint reportedly pertains to a part of the process which seeks to convert Odebrecht's debt into profit-sharing securities, to be paid out in dividends if and when companies inside the group start generating profits. The bank argues that the plan lacks clarity about how much creditors will collect from this recovery plan.

MEXICO AND CENTRAL AMERICA

* Fitch Ratings upgraded the national long and short-term risk ratings of Banco Monex SA Institución de Banca Múltiple Monex Grupo Financiero and Monex Casa de Bolsa SA de CV Monex Grupo Financiero to AA-(mex) and 'F1+(mex) from A+(mex) and F1(mex), respectively. Fitch also upgraded Monex SAB de CV's long-term rating to A+(mex) from A(mex).

* Mexican securities commission CNBV warned that financial technology firms that did not request authorization to continue operating under the new fintech law must close down or liquidate their operations, El Economista reported, citing Paola Rivera Zavala, the director for fintech authorization at the CNBV. Those that continue to operate without authorization already commit a crime, the official said.

BRAZIL

* Banco do Brasil SA announced a follow-on public offering of 132,506,737 common shares drawn from shares held in treasury and those held by government fund FI-FGTS, subject to market conditions and approval from Brazil's securities commission. The sale could generate about 5.75 billion reais based on Oct. 2 prices, Reuters reported. The bank also temporarily suspended its financial guidance due to the announcement of the offering.

* Brazil's Economy Ministry said the government sold or privatized $23.5 billion in public assets in September, exceeding the $20 billion goal set by the government for 2019, Reuters reported.

ANDEAN

* Peruvian President Martin Vizcarra officially swore in a new cabinet after he dissolved Congress, Reuters reported. Among those sworn in is new Economy and Finance Minister Maria Antonieta Alva.

SOUTHERN CONE

* Fitch Ratings downgraded Chile-based Banco Consorcio's foreign and local currency short-term issuer default ratings to F3 from F2 and subsequently removed them from Under Criteria Observation. The downgrade reflects Fitch's assessment of the bank's "bbb-" funding and liquidity factor score.

* Shareholders at Chile-based Grupo Security SA approved a capital increase of up to 100 billion Chilean pesos through the issuance of 415 million shares within three years. The resources will be used to capitalize the bank and its subsidiaries within the group's modernization process.

* A Chilean judge approved the conciliatory agreement between Itaú CorpBanca and the Sernac consumer defense body that orders the bank to refund clients affected by fraudulent transactions worth 12 million pesos between September 2017 and September 2018, Diario Financiero reported.

* Former IMF Chief Economist Kenneth Rogoff wrote in a column that U.S. President Donald Trump pressured the institution to approve the $57 billion loan to Argentina, which ended up worsening the crisis the country is currently experiencing, La Nación reported.

* The Argentine central bank approved a regulation that will prohibit people who have purchased more than $10,000 in a month from buying more dollars in the following month, El Cronista reported. Meanwhile, despite restrictions in dollar purchases, the country's greenback reserves fell at an average of $150 million in the last two weeks due to foreign exchange sales, deposit outflows and debt payments, among others.

IN OTHER PARTS OF THE WORLD

* Asia-Pacific: Bank inquiry in Australia; some LSE investors urge HKEX to raise bid

* North America: PayPal falters on Libra; October rate cut; Vanguard tests direct currency trades

Pablo Jiménez 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.