The real begins declining again. Markets are still wary about the idea of a freely floating currency. Concern is growing about the government’s mounitng debt burden and the slow pace of reforms.
Category: Web Articles
Finessing Brazil’s fiscal balance
The push for prudent fiscal management is on, but will Brazil’s voracious spending overwhelm it?
Oil Rich, Cash Poor
Mexico’s state-owned oil company generates billions of dollars in revenues, but cannot afford to invest in its own future. The government is trying to convince Congress to allow private-sector investment in the oil, gas and power industries.
Value, profits and access
With strong capitalization and strong returns, Roberto Setúbal is building Banco Itaú’s clout in the capital markets
An Essential League
League tables have long been prized by investment bankers for pitching business to governments, public and private companies. Occasionally they are scorned as tools for marketing to the uninformed. But […]
Go Anywhere Commerce
Latin America banks are learning to view the Internet more as a means of generating business, rather than as a purely transactional, money-making tool.
Orinoco No Flow?
Venezuela?s Orinoco oil belt, the largest known hydrocarbon deposit in the world, is a gold mine both to the Venezuelan government and foreign investors. Sponsors Texaco, Phillips Petroleum and Venezuela?s national petroleum company Petroleos de Venezuela (PDVSA) signed a $1.1 billion financing as part of the $3.5 billion Hamaca oilfield project in June. Financial backing from the Export-Import Bank of the US helped garner support from commercial banks. But President Chavez wants to pass a new hydrocarbons law (see Promulgations page 8) that threatens to raise future financing costs for oil exploration projects and deter investment in Venezuela?s energy industry.
A North American Mentality
Free trade with the US has transformed Mexico from a closed an inward-looking economy into one of the most open in the world. Its leading companies are the most adventurous and successful in Latin America.
Argentina Gets Creative
Just days before Argentina?s momentous $29.52 billion debt exchange last May, the government managed to pull together support for a $1.1 billion patriotic bond. When international investors shied away and nervously awaited the outcome of the exchange, the government crafted a deal to garner domestic support.
Going out on a limb
Latin American financial executives need to think broadly and creatively about how technology can firmly position them in the modern banking era.
