Category: People

The departing CEO of Mexican airport operator Grupo Aeroportuario del Pacifico, Carlos del Rio, will become the new chief executive of Spanish firm Abertis Airports, according to a press release from GAP. Del Rio will remain part of GAP as a board member and as a member of the Operating Committee.

Tarcisio José Massote de Godoy, Brazil’s former treasury secretary, will become CEO of private pension company and insurer BrasilPrev on September 1. Godoy resigned from Brazil’s treasury in early June after temporarily replacing Carlos Kawall. Arno Augustin, a former finance secretary in the southern state of Rio Grande do Sul and deputy executive-secretary under former minister of finance Antonio Palocci, became Brazil’s treasury secretary in early June.

Roger Agnelli, chairman and CEO of CVRD and Jeffrey Immelt, chairman and CEO of GE, stressed the importance of corporate and social responsibility in Latin America at a dinner hosted by the World Education & Development Fund on Monday to honor the business leaders for their commitment to educating underprivileged children in Latin America. Immelt told CEOs, bankers, investors, attorneys and fund raisers gathered at the event that he had never been so optimistic about Latin America’s economies. “It is one of the great places to invest over the next five to 10 years. We have $7 billion in revenues in Mexico and I think we could double that in the next three years. Brazil is incredibly exciting and Chile, Colombia and Central America are opening up for the first time,” says Immelt. GE’s chairman also stressed the importance of building competitive and equitable societies by being a responsible corporate citizen. “All of us see globalization as a tremendous opportunity for our companies, but nobody outside this room agrees with us. We have to give back to make communities more responsible and more self confident,” says Immelt.

Roger Agnelli, chairman and CEO of CVRD tells LatinFinance that the acquisition of Inco is progressing “very well”, noting the smooth integration of both cultures. “The environmental problems we thought we had at Inco have turned out to be very manageable,” he adds. Inco was the target of a class action law suit in Canada for contaminating communities in a plant in Ontario. Agnelli adds that he expects CVRD to report strong earnings in 2007, regardless of the softening market environment.

The supply of borhis, Mexican MBS issued by Sofoles and banks, is set to grow sharply, Guillermo Babatz, CEO of SHF told Silas. “We believe that by 2009, securitization will be the main source of funds for the private lenders in Mexico,” said Babatz. Last year saw roughly $1bn and Babatz expects close to $2.5bn this year, around 30% of the bank and Sofol financing needs. One of the key issues holding the market back is slow turnaround time between loan origination and going to the ABS market. Babatz also highlighted the need for a more liquid secondary market.