* Peruvian savings bank Caja Piura may acquire other municipal savingsbanks that are in poor financial condition, ElComercio reported.While acquiring struggling cajas is not a key strategy, Caja Piura said it maydo so in order to protect the sector's reputation and maintain confidence inthe financial system.

MEXICOAND CENTRAL AMERICA

*Evercore PartnersInc., the U.S. investment banking advisory firm, has agreed to transfercontrol of its Mexican private equity business to the principals of thoseoperations. Leaders of Evercore Mexico Capital Partners have created a newentity called Glisco Partners Inc. to take over management of some $266 millionin invested capital. Under the agreement, Evercore will receive a fixedpercentage of management fees that Glisco will earn for up to 10 years.

* Panama'sprivate banking sector posted an annual loan growth of 10.46% for the first five months of 2016,reaching a total portfolio of 46.40 billion Panamanian balboas, according todata from banking regulator SBP. Personal loan growth slowed from the sameperiod a year ago, with consumers more conservative, prioritizing expenses onbasic needs and saving more in case of adverse events, Capital Financiero reported, citing local analysts.

* Mexicanhousing information platform Registro Único de Vivienda and the Mexico'sbanking association ABM have signed an agreement to increase transparency andoffer better mortgage conditions to homebuyers, Milenio reported.

* Condusef,the Mexican regulator, will meet with Monex S.A.B. de C.V., Bansi SA Institución de Banca Múltiple and after the institutions registered the higher percentageincrease in complaintswithin their commercial operations over the past year, El Financiero reported. Complaints against Bansi soared by 1,000%,while those against Monex and BanCoppel jumped by 367% and 596%, respectively.

*HSBC México SA has launcheda new strategy to expand its customer base in the small and medium-sizedenterprise market, El Economistareported. The move comes as the bank believes that Mexico's large SME market isstill underserved.

*Scotiabank de Costa RicaSA obtained a $125 million syndicated from a group of internationalbanks, Economia y Negocios reported.Proceeds of the dual-tranche loan will be used for the bank's personal andcommercial loan portfolio.

*Banco Promerica de Costa RicaSA opened two new branches and additional service kiosks, and plans toopen two more branches by year-end, Estrategiay Negocios reported, citing deputy business manager Federico Chavarría.

* Amagnitude 5.0 earthquakestruck the southern Mexican state of Guerrero on July 19, though it iscurrently unknown whether it caused damages or injuries, Reuters reported. 

BRAZIL

*Investors of Brazilian telephone operator Oi have sought the help of NewYork-based investment bank Abadi & Co. Global Markets Inc. for structuringits potential takeover bid, Reuters reported, citing "two sources directly involved inthe matter." The group is also considering deal talks with the SociétéMondiale fund, which recently acquired a 6.6% stake in Oi, and is rumored to beconsidering a takeover bid for Oi.

* Amajority of economists surveyed expect Banco Central do Brasil to holdits benchmark Selic rate at 14.25% following a July 20 meeting, Reutersreported. New central bank head Ilan Goldfajn has pledged to maintain interestrates to prevent higher inflation expectations, the report added. 

ANDEAN

*Bancolombia SA laidout several details related to its planned absorption of Leasing Bancolombia SA as it set an extraordinaryshareholders' meeting for Sept. 20 to approve the move. Bancolombia plans toconvert shares of the leasing unit into Bancolombia shares on a 7.28665919-to-1basis.

* BBVAResearch estimates that digitalbanking customers in Colombia will jump to 15.6 million people in 2025 from1.9 million today, La Republicareported.  

* Netforeign investment in Colombia quadrupled to $676 million in June from $166million a year earlier, Portafolio reportedciting central bank figures. The increase reportedly comes as Colombia has seenhigh demand for fixed-income government securities, known as TES.

SOUTHERNCONE

* Chile's business community believes that reforms implemented byChilean President Michelle Bachelet — including higher taxes and higher publicspending on health and education — are negatively pressuring growth, BloombergNews reported.

* Banco Bilbao VizcayaArgentaria Chile SA placed bonds worth 2 million UF, or about 52.2 billion Chileanpesos, through a Dutch auction. Demand for the bonds, which have a term of 4.6years and an annual interest rate of 2.13%, reached 4.45 million UF, Diario Financiero reported. The bankplans to use the proceeds from the issuance to finance growth in its commercialbusiness.

* Roberto Abelardo Álvarez from his position as analternate director at BancoCredicoop Cooperativo Limitado, the company said.

PANLATIN AMERICA

* The International Monetary Fund its global growth forecast to 3.1%for 2016 and 3.4% for 2017, from 3.2% and 3.5% previously, amid expectationsthat the U.K.'s vote to leave the European Union will weigh on the worldeconomy. The IMF noted the vote has worsened the global growth outlook despiteperformance exceeding expectations in the first half.

IN OTHERPARTS OF THE WORLD

Asia-Pacific: Malaysian fund, Sun Life looking to buy Hong Leong insurance ops; Indiaunveils bank capital support plan

Middle East & Africa:

Europe: Brexitprompts global outlook cut; S&P on Deutsche Bank; ABN AMRO CEO toleave

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

PaulaMejia contributed to this article.

TheDaily Dose has an editorial deadline of 8:00 a.m. São Paulo time, and scansnews sources published in English, Portuguese and Spanish. Some external linksmay require a subscription.