Peru’s president Alan García has named Laura Calderón Regjo the new president of Sunat, Peru’s tax and customs collection agency, moving former chief Nahil Hirsh to head up Conasev, the national supervisory commission for companies and securities. Calderón has worked at the economy ministry and at the Central Bank and is seen as an able technocrat.
Category: Regions
Posted inDaily Brief
Mexico Inflation Higher Than Expected
Mexico’s annual inflation last year was 4.05%, higher than expected by most analysts and above the 4% ceiling predicted by the Central Bank. Consumer prices rose more quickly in December, up by 0.58%, as food prices climbed and growth picked up steam. Meanwhile, core inflation was up 0.43% in December, ending the year up 3.61%. Mexico’s inflation was 3.33% in 2005.
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Telmex Responds To Venezuela Announcement
Teléfonos de México (Telmex) issued a statement Tuesday in which it implied the planned nationalization of Venezuela’s CA Nacional Telefonos (CANTV) would have no impact on the Mexican telco. In April last year Telmex, in a strategic alliance with América Móvil, agreed to buy the 28.5% stake held by Verizon in CANTV for $676.6 million as part of a larger deal. In its statement, Telmex said that, although the offer for CANTV is valid until February 28, the acquisition had not been approved by the local regulator. Telmex and América Móvil shares were hit in trading Tuesday following news of Venezuela’s planned nationalization of its telecoms sector.
Posted inDaily Brief
Mexico To Swap Dollar Debt
Mexico announced Monday it will swap nearly $9 billion of its dollar debt into longer-term, more liquid, global bonds maturing 2034. The debt swap continues a strategy started by the previous Fox administration of buying back more expensive short-term debt in exchange for longer-dated paper. The swap offer includes five illiquid global issues between 2019 and 2033 and includes buying back up to $500 million of the bonds. The offer expires on January 11.
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UBS Gets Mexican Banking License
UBS has received approval from Mexico’s finance ministry to offer banking services in Mexico, the Swiss bank announced Monday. The firm plans to begin operations in the first quarter of 2007. The bank will initially offer cash, foreign exchange and debt products to institutional investors in Mexico, it said on its website. “This license represents a significant step for UBS. Having operations in Mexico and serving clientele here is an integral component of UBS’s expansion into Latin America,” commented Andre Esteves, chairman and chief executive of UBS Latin America. The new license in one of several awarded recently by the Mexican authorities as they open up the sector to greater competition.
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Bancolombia Scandal Rumbles On
Colombia’s largest financial institution, Bancolombia, has issued a statement following the arrest last week of its president and vicepresident – Jorge Londoño Saldarriaga and Federico Guillermo Ochoa – in which it says it finds “major flaws” in the resolution issued by the General Attorney’s Office on January 4, which authorizes the prosecution of the two men. The Bank emphasized that the decision by the prosecutor “does not affect the equity of Bancolombia or its solvency, its business and operations, or its obligations with its customers and clients”. It also denied any wrongdoing by its officers, as alleged, during the merger of Banco de Colombia and Banco Industrial Colombiano, over 10 years ago. The case has been brought by the Gilinski family, the former majority owners of Banco de Colombia, who sold their shareholding to BIC, for whom Londoño and Ochoa worked, and who claim they were defrauded. Bancolombia’s shares and its ADRs were hit by a sell-off last week after news of the arrests but prices had recovered somewhat by close of trading Friday.
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Peru Copper Names New President
Peru Copper Inc has named Gerald Wolfe as the company’s new president and chief executive, effective January 15, 2007. Wolfe is joining from Compañia Minera Antamina, where he has been president and CEO since 2005. David Lowell, Peru Copper’s executive chairman, praised Wolfe’s operational and technical credentials and added that he would offer invaluable experience for the development of the company’s Toromocho Copper Project in northern Peru.
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Mexico Approves New Banking Licenses
Mexico’s finance ministry has granted three new banking licenses and is likely to announce several more as the year advances. Prudential Financial of the US has been given the go-ahead to set up Prudential Grupo Financiero and operate Prudential Bank in Mexico. The Bank, which will be at least 51% owned by the Group, will specialize in fund management services. It will need authorization from the banking regulator, CNBV, to start operating. And retailer Coppel is a step closer to entering local banking after its subsidiary, Coppel Capital, was granted a multiple banking license to operate under the name BanCoppel. The bank is expected to start operating in April or May following certification by the banking regulator.
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Colombia Orders Arrest Of Bancolombia Execs
A Colombian judge has ordered the arrest of the president and vicepresident of the country’s largest financial institution Bancolombia. According to local media reports, Jorge Londoño Saldarriaga and Federico Guillermo Ochoa are wanted for questioning in relation to misuse of funds during the merger process in 1998 of Banco de Colombia with Banco Industrial Colombiano. Several minority shareholders have launched a claim against bank executives who, they claim, defrauded them of profits.
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Panama Banks Merge
Panamanian banks Banco General and Banco Continental have said they are to merge and create a new financial entity – BG Financial Group – with the banks having a 61:39 ownership, respectively. The new local giant, which will be born from Banco General absorbing Banco Continental, will become one of the largest financial groups in the region. With more than $7 billion in assets, it will have the muscle to take on the large foreign players who are piling into Central America. The board of BG Financial will comprise eight directors from Banco General and four from Banco Continental. Last year, HSBC paid $1.7 billion to buy local Grupo Banistmo, the largest bank in the region.