trending Market Intelligence /marketintelligence/en/news-insights/trending/othsznfwmf_wjc8ss75mig2 content esgSubNav
In This List

Accendo to complete Deutsche Bank México buyout in June; S&P downgrades Bolivia

Podcast

Street Talk Episode 87

Blog

A New Dawn for European Bank M&A Top 5 Trends

Blog

Insight Weekly: US banks' loan growth; record share buybacks; utility M&A outlook

Blog

Banking Essentials Newsletter 2021: December Edition


Accendo to complete Deutsche Bank México buyout in June; S&P downgrades Bolivia

* Gustavo Vergara, the CEO of Accendo Banco, SA Institución de Banca Múltiple, said the company expects to complete the acquisition of Deutsche Bank México SA Institución de Banca Múltiple in June, Reuters reported. The deal had been put on hold following an investigation linking Carlos Djemal, one of Accendo Banco's main shareholders, with money laundering.

* S&P Global Ratings downgraded Bolivia's long-term foreign and local currency sovereign credit ratings, as well as the transfer and convertibility assessment, to BB- from BB. The short-term currency ratings were affirmed at B. The downgrade reflects S&P's belief of a weaker external position due to Bolivia's sustained and large current account deficits, though the rating agency believes these deficits will gradually narrow over the next three years.

MEXICO AND CENTRAL AMERICA

* Mexico's first-quarter GDP grew 2.3% year over year, according to final data from statistics agency INEGI. Compared to the previous quarter, Mexico's GDP advanced 1.1% in seasonally adjusted figures.

* Costa Rica's Banco BAC San José SA on May 28 will auction bonds worth 10.00 billion colones, and issue them on May 30. The Series CN securities carry a gross interest rate of 9.78%.

BRAZIL

* Fitch Ratings upgraded Banco Rodobens SA's long-term national rating to AA-(bra) from A+(bra) and its short-term national rating to F1+(bra) from F1(bra), reflecting the stronger credit profile of the Brazilian bank's controlling shareholder, the Rodobens Group.

* Caixa Econômica Federal cut interest rates on working capital loans for micro and small companies and said it was expanding access to credit for the segment, making 25 billion reais available this year, Valor Econômico reported.

* Brazil's central bank said it made a loss of about 5.65 billion reais in foreign currency swap operations from May 1 to May 18, Valor Econômico reported. In May 2017, the monetary authority lost 614 million reais on the swaps.

* Cielo SA said Marcelo de Araújo Noronha was elected as the company's chairman and Marcelo Augusto Dutra Labuto as its vice chairman.

ANDEAN

* Leaders of the G7 nations called for new and fair elections in Venezuela as they denounced the victory of re-elected President Nicolas Maduro. In a statement, the leaders say the polls lacked legitimacy and credibility. In response, Maduro ordered the expulsion of two top U.S. diplomats from Venezuela, Agence France-Presse reported. The U.S. reciprocated by expelling two Venezuelan diplomats, Reuters reported.

* Venezuelan presidential runner-up Henri Falcon will challenge the election results for alleged irregularities, Reuters reported. Electoral board chief Tibisay Lucena said there was no evidence of voter fraud, though the elections have been criticized internationally.

* Banco Falabella Perú SA's general manager, Christian Ponce Villagomez, will leave the company June 30. Maximiliano Alberto Vilotta will be the bank's new general manager starting July 1.

* Peru's SBS banking industry regulator urged Congress to pass a bill before June 1 to allow the regulator to supervise the country's more than 600 savings and credit cooperatives in the country, which have been flagged as a possible weak link in anti-money laundering controls, El Comercio reported. Socorro Heysen, who leads the SBS, said she hoped the law would be passed by then, when a mission from the Latin American Financial Action Task Force is due to finish a visit to Peru. She said failure to pass the law could see the country added to a blacklist and worsen its investment risk rating.

* Peru's Compartamos Financiera SA is working on a planned sale of 70 million soles in bonds with a term of between 1.5 and two years, SEMANAeconómica reported, citing general manager Ralph Guerra. The planned issue would be the company's first sale of longer-term debt.

SOUTHERN CONE

* Argentine consumer watchdog ADUC has filed a class-action lawsuit against Banco de Galicia y Buenos Aires SA for allegedly charging unfairly for a life insurance fee on credit card products. Prisma Medios de Pago SA, American Express Argentina SA and Mastercard-operator First Data Cono Sur were also named respondents in the same case.

* Argentine central bank President Federico Sturzenegger said the peso's recent slide against the dollar was the result of a changing international panorama, warning that high interest rates would continue for some time, Clarin reported. Meanwhile, the monetary authority announced an early buyback offer to swap short-term Lebac notes for longer-dated paper to avoid a massive expiry of the stock in June and hence reduce a source of uncertainty in the market, the newspaper said.

* Banco de la República Oriental del Uruguay said about $25,000 in "unlawful withdrawals" had been made from about 100 accounts as the result of a phishing attack which was subsequently thwarted, El Pais reported, citing a statement from the state-run bank. It said the customers affected by the incident were being compensated.

* Banco de Chile has presented its closing arguments before the Supreme Court in a dispute over the minimum services that the bank will provide in the case of strike action, Diario Financiero reported. The bank is challenging the Labor Directorate's ruling which set minimum service standards during a strike.

PAN LATIN AMERICA

* Goldman Sachs Group Inc. appointed Max Ritter head of its Latin America merger advisory business, Bloomberg News reported, citing a company memo. Ritter will be a managing director at Goldman and will be based in New York.

IN OTHER PARTS OF THE WORLD

* Asia-Pacific: US regulator fines ICBC; SeaBank M&A gets nod; CBA taps Citi for unit stake sale

* Middle East & Africa: Deutsche Bank to cut South Africa ops; 2 Omani banks to weigh potential merger

Helen Popper contributed to this article.

This S&P Global Market Intelligence news article may contain information about credit ratings issued by S&P Global Ratings, a separately managed division of S&P Global. Descriptions in this news article were not prepared by S&P Global Ratings.

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.