Category Archives: Lifestyle Blog

Clothes don’t cover Haiti’s problems

Posted on September 15, 2019 by

The country’s poverty is in marked contrast to the relative affluence of its neighbours. It needs access to finance beyond disaster relief. But can banks make a business case for a nation in such poor repair? It’s an understatement to … Continue reading →

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Latin America’s best bank 2019: Santander Brasil

Posted on July 11, 2019 by

Despite the headwinds for region’s banks, there were some outstanding performances that demonstrate what can be achieved without macroeconomic support. The best example of this was Santander Brasil, Latin America’s best bank. The success of Santander Brasil’s chief executive, Sergio … Continue reading →

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First-skirmishes-in-brazilian-fintech-war

Posted on May 29, 2019 by

The phony war has been long, but the first real battle has now begun in Brazil’s fintech space. The growth of fintechs in Brazil has been closely monitored by market participants for years. The narrative is well established: the high … Continue reading →

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First skirmishes in Brazilian fintech war

Posted on April 29, 2019 by

The growth of fintechs in Brazil has been closely monitored by market participants for years. The narrative is well established: the high adoption of digital technologies (71% of the population has a smart phone) in the huge, entrepreneurial economy has … Continue reading →

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Brazil’s XP chooses a road often travelled: selling to Itaú

Posted on May 17, 2017 by

Brazilian brokerage firm XP Holding Investimentos has pulled its IPO in favour of selling a large minority stake to Itaú. The announcement came just days after XP had filed for an IPO that was expected to raise between $1.5 billion … Continue reading →

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Goldfajn plots a happy ending for Brazil interest rates

Posted on March 7, 2017 by

The new president of Brazil’s central bank has identified the large interest rate spread applied by banks on top of the base rate as an obstacle to economic growth. His plan to increase competition and reduce this ‘spread bancario’ is … Continue reading →

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Paraguay to focus on trade at IDB

Posted on March 6, 2017 by

Paraguay’s minister of finance, Santiago Peña, says that he expects the recent shift to the right in the politics of Mercosur’s two largest member countries to lead the organization to refocus on its economic mission at the expense of broader … Continue reading →

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