A Panamanian judge has ordered the arrest of former president of Nicaragua, Arnoldo Alemán, on charges of moneylaundering. Other family members, including his wife, have also been charged. Panama claims Alemán carried out the illegal activity via the Panamanian banking system to launder almost $60 million of public funds diverted to different bank accounts. Alemán, who governed Nicaragua between 1997 and 2002, has been under house arrest just south of the capital Managua after being convicted of embezzlement in Nicaragua in 2003.
Category: Regions
Posted inDaily Brief
Oxy To Sue Ecuador For $1 Billion
Occidental Petroleum (Oxy), the fourth-largest oil company in the US, is to sue Ecuador for $1 billion of damages after the government cancelled its exploration rights and took over its assets in the country last Thursday. Oxy, which filed its claim with the International Center for Investment Disputes in Washington, says the government has violated the US-Ecuador Investment Treaty. Meanwhile, Canadian oil company EnCana, which bought a 40% in Oxy’s Block 15 in 2000 and sold it on to Chinese joint venture Andes Petroleum earlier this year, may be forced to refund up to $280 million of the sale revenues following the seizure due to contractual clauses.
Posted inDaily Brief
Colombia Hopes To Raise $451 Million From Bancafe Sale
Colombia is to sell off the country’s largest state-owned bank – Bancafe – for no less than $451.44 million (1.09 trillion pesos), according to the government. The bank will be sold off to the highest bidder in the third-quarter of the year. Foreign and domestic banks will be permitted to bid for the institution. The sale of Bancafe will leave only one state-run bank – Banco Agrario – operating in Colombia.
Posted inDaily Brief
Exito Plans Share Offering
Colombian retailer Almacenes Exito is planning to sell more shares via the Bogotá stock exchange. The details of the sale are not yet known but the company recently announced it will spend $150 million this year expanding its network of outlets in the country to meet increasing consumer demand and to counter growing competition.
Posted inDaily Brief
YPFB Becomes Bolivia’s Third-Largest Oil Comany
Bolivia’s state-owned energy company, Yacimientos Petrolíferos Fiscales Bolivianos (YPFB), will today, Friday, become the country’s third-largest oil company when it takes ownership of the country’s nationalized assets, giving it control over 15% of Bolivia’s gas reserves. The transfer of the shares of the country’s three listed oil concerns gives YPFB a 51% controlling holding. Brazil’s Petrobras and Spain’s Repsol YPF remain the two largest oil companies in the country.
Posted inDaily Brief
IFC Invests In Colombian Energy
The International Finance Corporation, the private-sector arm of the World Bank Group, has signed an agreement to purchase equity worth up to $15 million in Grupo Petrotesting, a Colombian oil and gas company. The company said it will use the funds to help with its expansion plans in the region.
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Comcel Approves Debt Issue
The shareholders of Colombian mobile phone operator Comcel, owned by Mexican telco América Móvil, have approved an offering of $412.5 million worth (1 billion pesos) of local currency-denominated debt. The debt will be issued in the form of bonds (750 million pesos) and commercial paper (250 million pesos). Last year, Comcel issued peso-denominated debt worth around $200 million to protect against fluctuations in the US dollar against the Colombian currency.
Posted inDaily Brief
Mexico Bucks The Trend
While other Latin American countries move to reduce foreign-investor involvement in their energy sectors, Mexico has said it may move to open up its sector to more external participation. Energy minister, Fernando Canales, has said that Mexico may amend its constitution to allow foreign companies a greater share of the country’s energy sector. The move would be made after the country’s July 7 elections.
Posted inDaily Brief
Xstrata To Buy Peru Tintaya Copper Mine
Swiss mining company Xstrata has agreed to pay $750 million to Anglo-Australian firm BHP Billiton for its Tintaya copper mine in the south of Peru to consolidate its presence in the mining sector in Latin America. Xstrata is already developing a copper project in Peru – Las Bambas – in the south at Apurimac. It also has an important copper and gold operation – Alumbrera – in the northwest of Argentina.
Posted inDaily Brief
Panama Inflation Trends Upwards
Panama’s rate of inflation is trending upwards, according to the latest government figures. Consumer prices rose 1.1% in April, taking annual inflation through April to 1.4%. Year-on-year, inflation rose 2.9% in April. Last year, prices increased 2.9% over the year, above levels usually seen in the country.