* Grupo Supervielle SA reached an agreement to acquire stockbroker InvertirOnLine.com Argentina SA for at least 1.00 billion Argentine pesos, local media reported. The deal reportedly includes a 1.00 billion peso initial consideration, as well as two additional payments based on InvertirOnLine's 2018 results, sources said.
* Grupo Financiero Galicia SA posted first-quarter profit of 2.99 billion Argentine pesos, up 109% from 1.43 billion pesos in the year-ago period. On a consolidated basis, net interest income rose 45% year over year to 6.18 billion pesos, as all of the company's major operating units reported improved results.
* Caixa Econômica Federal's first-quarter net income reached 3.2 billion Brazilian reais in the first three months of 2018, up 114.5% from 1.49 billion reais in the year-ago period. Gross profit from financial intermediation jumped 21.9% annually, while other administrative expenses fell 5.9% to 2.66 billion reais.
MEXICO AND CENTRAL AMERICA
* Mexico's central bank disclosed that its SPEI interbank electronic payment system was the target of five cyberattacks during the last several weeks, El Economista reported. Four of them occurred in April, while the most recent one happened on May 8. The central bank recently introduced new measures to strengthen the system's security after reports indicated that the attacks resulted in the theft of between 300 and 400 million pesos. Meanwhile, Mexican financial authorities and industry groups announced the creation of a task force to ensure coordination in their response to cyberattacks, the publication reported separately.
* Caixa Seguridade Participações SA named José Raimundo Santos Lima CEO, effective immediately. He replaced Raphael Rezende Neto, who leaves the company after two years at its helm.
* Itaúsa - Investimentos Itaú SA said its board approved a capital increase of 1.37 billion reais. Shares subscribed as part of the hike will be credited to shareholder accounts on May 30.
* Moody's lowered the long-term national scale deposit rating of Banco Mercantil do Brasil SA to Caa1.br from B3.br, while placing all of the bank's long-term ratings and assessments on review for downgrade. The actions reflect rising challenges in the bank's generation of sustainable profitability and internal capital generation.
* Itaú Unibanco Holding SA said its board has proposed a 50% stock split of the bank's 6,536,090,232 book-entry shares, which will see stockholders receive one new share for each two shares of the same type they hold. The bank will call a shareholder meeting to decide on the proposal, which is also subject to central bank approval.
* Real estate financing in Brazil using funds from the country's savings and loan system increased 31.2% in April from a year earlier, and ticked 8.1% higher compared to March, Diário Comércio Indústria & Serviços reported, citing data from industry association Abecip.
* Arno Meyer, the vice president of finance and accounting at state-run Caixa Econômica Federal, said Brazil's next president will have to capitalize state banks if they are to be used as a tool to reduce interest rates and push private lenders to do the same, Valor Econômico reported. The executive said Caixa is considering raising funds through an external bond issuance.
* Itaú Unibanco Holding SA and Banco Bradesco SA agreed to extend a joint loan of 2.6 billion reais to troubled engineering conglomerate Odebrecht SA, two sources told Reuters. Odebrecht's 38.3% stake in petrochemical producer Braskem SA will act as collateral for the new loan.
* BRB-Banco de Brasília SA's board approved the payment of about 21.4 million reais in interest on capital for the first half of 2018, corresponding to 57.67 centavos per ordinary share.
ANDEAN
* Nicolás Maduro was sworn in for a second, six-year term as Venezuela's president on May 24 after he moved his inauguration up by eight months, The Wall Street Journal reported. He vowed to free some jailed opposition activists, increase the country's oil production and initiate talks with business leaders, Reuters reported.
* Credit granted by Peruvian financial institutions increased 8.6% year over year in April, accelerating from the 7.7% growth rate seen in the previous month, El Comercio reported, citing central bank data. The April growth rate is the highest since November 2015.
* Peru's Congress failed to pass a bill that would have given the SBS banking industry regulator supervisory authority over the country's more than 600 savings and loan cooperatives, instead sending the bill back to the committee stage for further analysis, Gestión reported. The SBS has urged Congress to pass the bill as soon as possible to improve the country's anti-money laundering controls.
* Domestic demand in Peru rose 4% in the first quarter from the same period a year ago, boosted by increased consumer spending, private investment and public spending, Gestión reported, citing central bank data.
* Banco Financiero del Peru SA said it accepted the resignation of Jorge Gruenberg Schneider as board chairman.
SOUTHERN CONE
* Chilean banking regulator SBIF said it is monitoring a technical problem that caused computer systems at Banco de Chile branches to fail on May 23, Pulso reported.
* Banco del Estado de Chile has reopened the account of cryptocurrency trading platform CryptoMKT, complying with an order from antitrust court TDLC, Pulso reported. It is not clear if Scotiabank Chile and Itaú CorpBanca will do the same since the two banks are reportedly appealing the court's decision.
PAN LATIN AMERICA
* Executives at PayPal Holdings Inc. detailed plans to pursue several deals valued between $1 billion and $3 billion in each of the next several years. The company may look specifically at markets including India, Indonesia, Brazil, Mexico and possibly China for future growth.
IN OTHER PARTS OF THE WORLD
* Asia-Pacific: Ex-PICC Group president sentenced to prison; Fidelity Life bids for ANZ unit
* Middle East & Africa: Hapoalim, Leumi post Q1 profits; Kenya keeps rate cap; South Africa holds rate
* Europe: EC proposes 'safe bonds'; Deutsche Bank chair survives removal attempt
* Global Markets: New York markets pre-open: Yields drop amid US-N Korea noise; oil falls sharply
Helen Popper contributed to this article.
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