(Published originally in Mediato) La mina de oro y plata Río Blanco, atacada y quemada este mes por manifestantes de la comunidad, es emblemática en la industria minera ecuatoriana por todas las razones equivocadas. Haciendo caso omiso a la resistencia de las comunidades locales, del Municipio de Cuenca y de la provincia del Azuay, el gobierno… Read More Minería: del dicho al hecho
(Published originally in Mediato) El informe borrador –el cual aún no es concluyente– de la Contraloría sobre la deuda pública, presentado el 14 de marzo pasado, es un triunfo estratégico para el presidente Lenín Moreno. No solo permite responsabilizar al expresidente Rafael Correa del despilfarro fiscal, sino que Moreno también puede hacer corresponsable a la… Read More Correa, China y la Asamblea, afectados por el informe de la deuda
(Published originally in Mediato) El referéndum del 4 de febrero fue significativo. En su nivel más obvio, le dio al presidente Lenín Moreno una sólida victoria política y al expresidente Rafael Correa una derrota asombrosa. Pero más allá de las reacciones en Quito, los votantes en las zonas mineras de la Sierra y el Oriente… Read More Ecuador habló: La minería es peor que Correa
The historiography of the Honduras general strike of 1954 shows that the extent of communist influence and external Guatemalan involvement … Read More Communist Conspiracies and Imperial Plots in the Honduran General Strike
By Nathan Gill (Bloomberg) — This year’s climb in crude prices, however slight, brought relief to Venezuelan and Ecuadorean bondholders after last year’s crash decimated the oil producers’ revenue and prompted concern they were running short of cash. Now, the pessimism is back. While New York oil futures have surged 36 percent from a six-year… Read More Venezuela Bonds Trapped by Oil’s New Normal as Relief Rally Ends
By Nathan Gill (Bloomberg) — Ecuador’s home-grown digital currency is nothing to fear. At least that’s the conclusion of analysts from JPMorgan Chase & Co. to Credit Suisse Group AG and Nomura Securities International Inc. The country’s bonds fell last week after the government ordered banks to start accepting a new electronic tender it created… Read More JPMorgan Says Not to Worry as Ecuador Promotes Digital Currency
By Nathan Gill (Bloomberg) — Ecuador, which uses the U.S. dollar as its official currency, will require banks to offer services tied to a government-created electronic coin. Lenders with assets greater than $1 billion as of Dec. 31 have 120 days to fulfill the requirement, while smaller banks will get as long as a year,… Read More Ecuador Requiring Banks to Offer Electronic Currency Services
By Nathan Gill (Bloomberg) — Enrique Perez, who’s been building homes for most of his life in Ecuador, is finally going to make one for himself. Perez is an unlikely beneficiary of the plunge in crude prices. That prompted Ecuador, an OPEC nation, to offer mortgage subsidies to people like Perez, a construction worker. Ecuador… Read More South America’s Commodity Rout Spurs Public Spending on Housing
By Katia Porzecanski and Nathan Gill (Bloomberg) — Grantham, Mayo, Van Otterloo LLC, a Boston-based money manager, dismissed its lawsuit against Ecuador over debt the nation defaulted on six years ago. The parties agreed to dismiss the suit filed in December in Manhattan federal court, agreeing that each side would pay its own costs and… Read More GMO Settles With Ecuador Over Bonds That Defaulted in 2009
By Katia Porzecanski and Nathan Gill(Bloomberg) — Grantham, Mayo, Van Otterloo LLC, a Boston-based money manager, dismissed its lawsuit against Ecuador over debt the nation defaulted on six years ago. The parties agreed to dismiss the suit filed in December in Manhattan federal court, agreeing that each side would pay its own costs and that… Read More GMO Settles With Ecuador Over Bonds That Defaulted Six Years Ago
By Katia Porzecanski and Nathan Gill (Bloomberg) — Six years ago, Ecuador President Rafael Correa’s government denounced the 10 percent in annual interest the country paid on its bonds as “usury.” So when the 51-year-old former economics professor was willing to pay 10.5 percent in a sale of notes this month, it raised speculation the… Read More World’s Costliest Bond Sale in Decade Shows Ecuador Cash Crunch
By Nathan Gill (Bloomberg) — Ecuador got $924 million in previously undisclosed loans from Deutsche Bank AG and other lenders, showing the extent of President Rafael Correa’s effort to line up a record amount of financing as oil prices plunge. The country took $181 million in two separate loans from units of Deutsche Bank and… Read More Ecuador Discloses Loans From Wall Street, China as Oil Sinks
By Nathan Gill (Bloomberg) — Union Andina de Cementos SAA, Peru’s biggest cement supplier, expects growth in exports will help offset weakening demand from local miners. Overseas sales of clinker, an ingredient in cement production, will surge 18 percent to about 500,000 metric tons this year, Ricardo Rizo Patron, chairman of the company, said Wednesday… Read More Peru Top Cement Maker Unacem Says Exports to Offset Mining Slump
By Katia Porzecanski and Nathan Gill (Bloomberg) — Ecuador sold $750 million of five-year bonds overseas to meet its financing needs amid a plunge in the price of crude oil. The country sold the securities to yield 10.5 percent, according to a person familiar with the matter, who isn’t authorized to speak publicly and asked… Read More Ecuador Said to Sell $750 Million of Five-Year Bonds at 10.5%
(Originally published by Bloomberg News) By Nathan Gill (Bloomberg) — When President Rafael Correa defaulted on most of Ecuador’s overseas debt in 2008, he disparaged bondholders as “true monsters.” Now, he’s increasingly dependent on their goodwill. Ecuador hired Citigroup Inc. to arrange meetings with investors to gauge demand for what… Read More Monsters of Bond Market Now Correa Go-To as China Is Not Enough
By Nathan Gill (Bloomberg) — President Rafael Correa’s resourcefulness in the face of sinking oil prices has made Ecuador a favorite among emerging-market bond investors this year. To AllianceBernstein and Capital Economics, Correa needs to do more to ensure that the goodwill doesn’t prove fleeting. The nation’s debt securities returned 4.9 percent as Correa said… Read More Bondholder Love for Ecuador’s Correa Is Questioned: Andes Credit
By Nathan Gill (Bloomberg) — Nicolas Maduro and Rafael Correa are both socialist disciples of the late Venezuela President Hugo Chavez, but only one is managing to convince bondholders he’s got the ability to weather the collapse in oil prices. While Chavez’s handpicked successor Maduro is struggling to ward off a default, Ecuador counterpart Correa… Read More Bondholders Embracing Chavez’s Disciple in Ecuador: Andes Credit
When Chile granted literate men over the age of 21 the right to vote in 1925, a new era marked by the rise of mass society had begun.[1] Similar to processes unfolding around the world, the enfranchisement of progressively-larger swaths of Chile’s population in the early-twentieth century upended traditional politics and undermined the economic status… Read More Mining for the Nation: Jody Pavilack
By Nathan Gill Oct. 30 (Bloomberg) — Spain’s stock-market regulator needs an up to 20 percent staff increase to improve market supervision, the regulator’s chief said. Spain will need to add personnel over the next three years to better regulate markets and fulfill its obligations with the European Union, Julio Segura, the president of Spain’s… Read More Spain’s Segura Says CNMV Needs Up to 20% Staff Boost
By Nathan Gill Oct. 29 (Bloomberg) — Chilean banks’ combined profit increased 7 percent in September from the previous month after demand for lending rose amid signs of an economic recovery. Net income in the nine months through September was 849 billion pesos ($1.6 billion), Chile’s banking regulator, known as the SBIF, wrote in an… Read More Chilean Banks’ Combined Profit Rises 7% in September
By Nathan Gill Oct. 28 (Bloomberg) — Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile SA, Chile’s biggest fertilizer producer, tumbled to the lowest price in seven weeks after reporting a 57 percent drop in third-quarter profit. The Santiago-based company, known as Soquimich, retreated 2 percent in Santiago trading to 19,470 pesos, the lowest since Sept. 7.… Read More Chile’s Soquimich Falls to Seven-Week Low on Earnings Decline
By Nathan Gill and James Attwood Oct. 28 (Bloomberg) — Empresa Nacional de Electricidad SA, Chile’s biggest power generator, said third-quarter profit surged 56 percent after it lowered costs. Net income rose to 178 billion pesos ($336 million) from 114 billion pesos a year earlier, the company known as Endesa Chile said today in a… Read More Endesa Chile Earnings Increase 56% on Lower Costs
By James Attwood and Nathan Gill Oct. 27 (Bloomberg) — Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile SA, Chile’s biggest fertilizer producer, reported a 57 percent drop in third-quarter profit as lower prices dragged down sales. Net income fell to $82.3 million from $191 million a year earlier, the Santiago-based company known as Soquimich wrote today… Read More Soquimich Profit Drops 57% on Lower Fertilizer Sales
By Nathan Gill and James Attwood Oct. 26 (Bloomberg) — Lan Airlines SA, Latin America’s biggest air carrier by market value, reported a 37 percent drop in third-quarter profit on lower sales and a fuel hedge loss. Net income fell to $52.1 million from $83 million a year earlier, the Santiago-based airline wrote in a… Read More Lan Profit Falls 37% on Lower Sales, Fuel Hedge Loss
By Nathan Gill Oct. 26 (Bloomberg) — Celfin Capital SA, a Santiago, Chile-based brokerage and investment bank, announced plans to create a carbon trading exchange in the country. The Santiago Climate Exchange is a joint venture with Fundacion Chile, a government-sponsored entity promoting technological innovation, to encourage voluntary carbon reduction projects, Celfin Chairman Juan Andres… Read More Celfin Capital to Start Chile Carbon Credit Exchange
By Nathan Gill Oct. 23 (Bloomberg) — Banco de Chile, the country’s second-biggest lender, rose in Santiago trading after Goldman Sachs Group Inc. upgraded the shares. Santiago-based Banco de Chile gained 0.5 percent to 42.7, paring a weekly loss of 0.4 percent. SM-Chile SA, the bank’s holding company, jumped 6.8 percent to its highest price… Read More Banco de Chile Rises on Goldman Sachs Upgrade
By Nathan Gill Oct. 22 (Bloomberg) — Consorcio Financiero SA, a Santiago-based financial services provider, is negotiating the purchase of Chile’s Banco Monex, a bank spokeswoman said. Monex is holding talks with Consorcio about the possible sale of its operations, Claudia Valenzuela said today in a telephone interview from Santiago, confirming an unsourced Diario Financiero… Read More Banco Monex in Talks to Sell Operations to Consorcio
By Nathan Gill Oct. 21 (Bloomberg) — Empresas La Polar SA had the biggest gain in Chile’s Ipsa Index after analysts said the fourth-largest retailer by market value will benefit from a recovery in spending. Santiago-based La Polar climbed 4 percent to 2,870 pesos, its highest price since January 2008. The shares have more than… Read More La Polar Rises Most in Ipsa on Prospect for Recovery
By Nathan Gill Oct. 20 (Bloomberg) — Chilean central bank President Jose De Gregorio said policy makers will keep the overnight lending rate at its record low for a “prolonged time.” De Gregorio has said he plans to hold borrowing costs down in an effort to stoke economic expansion faster than 4.5 percent, which would… Read More Chile to Pause for ‘Prolonged Time,’ De Gregorio Says
By Nathan Gill Oct. 19 (Bloomberg) — Cencosud SA, Chile’s biggest retailer by sales, moved personnel into its Costanera Center site to evaluate resuming construction of the Santiago office tower and shopping center project. “Cencosud has been continually studying the financial and economic conditions, both national and international, to decide the right time to reactivate… Read More Cencosud Installs Team in Costanera Center Site to Study Restart
By Nathan Gill Oct. 15 (Bloomberg) — Chilean brokerage Fit Research Corredores de Bolsa SA bought a seat in the Santiago securities exchange in an auction today. Fit, the only bidder, offered the minimum price of 2 billion pesos ($3.7 million) for a share in the exchange, the auctioneer announced. This gives the company the… Read More Chile’s Fit Research Buys Santiago Exchange Seat
By Nathan Gill Oct. 13 (Bloomberg) — Empresa Nacional de Electricidad SA, Chile’s biggest power generator, rose the most in almost four weeks after boosting its stake in a Peruvian unit at an “attractive” price. Endesa, as the company is known, gained 1.3 percent to 868 pesos in Santiago trading, its biggest advance since Sept.… Read More Endesa Chile Rises to Four-Week High on Edegel Stake
By Nathan Gill Oct. 13 (Bloomberg) — Empresas Copec SA, Chile’s largest producer of wood pulp, climbed to the highest since May 2008 after Celfin Capital SA recommended investors buy the shares. Copec, the South American country’s largest publicly traded company, advanced 1.6 percent to 7,615 pesos in Santiago trading, its highest price since May… Read More Copec Rises to Highest Since 2008 on Celfin Rating
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