Category: Argentina

The crisis in Argentina dramatically demonstrates how little the international financial community has learned from the string of crises that have erupted in the emerging markets over the last few years. And there is little sign that Latin America’s latest debt crisis will make a difference.

The Argentine national airline is in private hands, 11 years after it was privatized. But nobody is saying what the new owners paid for one of Latin America’s worst airlines.

Under Juan Navarro, the Exxel Group shot to fame as Argentina’s most savvy leveraged buyout firm. But some of its companies are in financial trouble as Navarro’s financial and management expertise is lacking luster.

Nearly all sources of conventional financing for Argentine companies have dried up. Several local financiers have come up with some new ideas for finding financing fresh management and talent for local companies.

Fund manager Mohamed A. El-Erian contemplates the future of emerging market assets in the aftermath of Argentina’s crisis. Despite the gloomy outlook for the region, tighter fiscal policies, more transparent and market-compatible rules, improvements in debt management and greater international reserves now cushion most Latin American economies.

Argentina has cast a long shadow over the region, but a select group of issuers can still raise capital in any form, as long as they get the price, structure and timing right.