The coronavirus lockdown has been an efficiency crash course for heavyweight banks in Brazil. Itaú Unibanco Holding SA, which shifted 95% of its headquarters, customer service and digital agency personnel to work from home, is set to pursue cost-cutting opportunities exposed by the coronavirus pandemic, CEO Candido Bracher said May 5 on a call to discuss…
Chilean banks, which already were bracing for fallout from political turmoil, are now also having to contend with a global health pandemic that is threatening the country’s economy. Widespread and prolonged social unrest in the latter months of 2019 — spurred initially by a hike in metro fares that subsequently exploded into a constitutional crisis…
Latin American banks are sufficiently capitalized to withstand ongoing turmoil as effects from the financial crisis and the commodity shock bleed into regional economies, provided that these conditions do not extend longer than three months, analysts say. The rapid slowdown in the global economy stemming from the novel coronavirus outbreak is already generating spillover effects…
Just a few weeks ago, 2020 was shaping up to be a banner year for Brazilian initial public offerings. But with fears over the novel coronavirus battering markets across the globe, many of those planned offerings could be delayed or cancelled. Buoyed by a strong market run up, as well as by XP Inc.’s successful…
Avenida Paulista is a top tourist attraction in São Paulo, Brazil, with shops, restaurants, cultural and music venues lining the 2.7-kilometer road. It is also one of the country’s most over-branched areas. Over the years, retail banks have added a slew of branches along the avenue. Banco Bradesco SA and Itaú Unibanco Holding SA — Brazil’s the…
Sharp cost-cutting by Brazilian banks could drive price-based fintech models out of business. Lack of historical data and high customer acquisition costs puts fintechs at a disadvantage in comparison to banks and technology companies. Incorporating nonfinancial services is a way for fintechs to counterattack big techs’ foray into finance. Sergio Furio is the founder and…
Foreign investments have boosted a new phase of capital building across Latin America’s financial technology sector, but industry experts at a fintech conference in Miami this week caution that valuations are rising rapidly as the size of investment rounds grow larger. While traditional Latin American venture capital funds engage in investments that average between $4…
Shortly after primary election results catapulted Peronist presidential candidate Alberto Fernández to front-runner status, he promised bondholders that his government would not default on its debt, unlike prior administrations in his party. Bond markets don’t appear to be buying it. In the wake of the surprise primary result, investors halved the value of an array of…
As Brazilian regulators push to create an open banking system to help drive competition and convenience, some market experts are raising red flags on the cybersecurity challenges it will create for a financial industry already under siege. In April, Banco Central do Brasil laid out guidelines that effectively require financial institutions to share key client data…
Banco Central de la República Argentina is increasingly betting on private fintech initiatives to help foster financial inclusion in the country, though several barriers remain, according to a report obtained by S&P Global Market Intelligence. The institution noted there is “a strong potential for the emergence of relevant actors” in the digital transformation of banks…