* Banco do Brasil SA posted second-quarter net income of about 3.14 billion Brazilian reais, up 19.7% from 2.62 billion reais in the year-ago period. The result came as net allowance for loan losses fell 31.9% year over year to 3.58 billion reais, while fee income rose 5.7% to about 6.80 billion reais.
* Peru's Intercorp Financial Services Inc. posted a second-quarter profit of 204.9 million soles, down 16.1% from the 244.1 million soles earned in the year-ago period. The company attributed the decline mainly to a one-time 144.8 million soles adjustment of technical reserves due to the adoption of new mortality tables at its insurance business.
MEXICO AND CENTRAL AMERICA
* Overall profits for banks in Mexico increased 10.7% year over year in the first half of 2018 to about 78.40 billion Mexican pesos, driven by higher fees and commissions and interest income, El Economista reported, citing the CNBV banking regulator. The sector's overall loan portfolio grew 6.6% in the same period.
* Mexico's CNBV banking and securities commission revoked Devida Hipotecaria's license to operate as a popular finance company, or sofipo, due to various regulatory breaches, including minimum capital requirements, El Economista reported.
* Moody's revised its outlook on Brazil's insurance sector to stable from negative, citing an expected rise in premiums and stable profitability due to better underwriting discipline. Low insurance market penetration means that the industry can expand further once macroeconomic conditions in Brazil improve, said Moody's Vice President-Analyst Diego Kashiwakura.
* Brazil's planning ministry has called on President Michel Temer to postpone 2019 wage hikes for public sector employees to 2020, Reuters reported, citing an anonymous government official. The move, which would exclude the military, could save an estimated 6.9 billion reais for the government in the 2019 budget, the source said.
ANDEAN
* Venezuela's Supreme Court ordered opposition leader Julio Borges to be arrested for purportedly conspiring to assassinate President Nicolas Maduro with explosives-laden drones in an Aug. 4 rally, Reuters reported. Meanwhile, Salvatore Lucchese, a former Venezuelan municipal police boss and anti-government activist, told the newswire that he helped coordinate the attack.
* Credicorp Ltd. booked net income attributed to the company of about 977.8 million Peruvian soles for the second quarter, up 6.3% from 920.2 million soles in the year-ago period. Net interest income increased 4.8% year over year to 2.06 billion soles, while provisions for loan losses, net of recoveries, fell 27.7% to 313.2 million soles.
SOUTHERN CONE
* Chile's central bank does not see a need to lower its benchmark interest rate at present, but is eyeing a hike toward the end of the year, minutes from its last policy meeting show. The central bank left its key rate unchanged at 2.5% at the most recent meeting.
* Earnings for Chilean banks recovered in the first half of 2018, reflecting a pickup in commercial lending, a widening of net interest margins and controlled credit costs, Fitch Ratings said. The rating agency also said Chilean banks should focus future investments to reduce their exposure to operational risks following a string of recent data breaches, La Tercera reported.
* Banco Macro SA announced a share repurchase program for a maximum amount of up to 5.00 billion Argentine pesos. Under the program, which comes amid general fluctuations in the capital market, the bank can repurchase shares representing up to 5% of its total capital stock.
* Argentina's Merval stock index dropped for the second consecutive day, falling 4% on Aug. 8, La Nación reported. The market turbulence follows news of the so-called notebook scandal in the country with alleged ties between corporations and politicians during the former Kirchnerism government.
* Felipe Carvallo, a vice president and credit officer at Moody's, said Chilean banks face challenges in terms of capitalization, but the approval of the country's new banking law could help resolve the issue, Diario Financiero reported.
* Chile's financial market commission, the CMF, suspended another 13 sales agents belonging to local life insurance companies over alleged irregularities in their marketing of annuities, La Tercera reported. The regulator suspended six sales agents earlier in August over the same issue.
* Asia-Pacific: Dai-ichi Life unit to buy Suncorp life business; New Zealand holds cash rate
* Middle East & Africa: Mizrahi Tefahot won't settle US probe for $342M; Saudi-Canada row escalates
* Europe: Prudential, L&G, Zurich report earnings; Italy eyes Monte dei Paschi sale
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