FINANCIAL SERVICES ADVISOR a PUBLICATION of the DIALOGUE November 5-18, 2020
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LATIN AMERICA ADVISOR FINANCIAL SERVICES ADVISOR A PUBLICATION OF THE DIALOGUE www.thedialogue.org November 5-18, 2020 BOARD OF ADVISORS FEATURED Q&A TOP NEWS Ernesto Armenteros Vice Chairman of the Board, BANKING Banco de Ahorro y Crédito Unión How Important Are Chilean Central Pablo Barahona President & COO, Bank Warns of Global Retail Markets West, Liberty Mutual Group U.S. Remittances for Risks to System Felipe Carvallo The Covid-19 pandemic continues Vice President - Analyst to pose the most significant risk Latin America Banking Cuba’s Economy? Moody’s Investors Service that Chile’s financial system is seeing, the central bank warned. Richard Child Page 2 CEO, Mattrix Group Michael Diaz Jr. ANTI-MONEY LAUNDERING Partner, Diaz, Reus & Targ U.S. Seizes $24 Mn Ernesto Fernández Holmann in Brazil Digital Chairman of the Board, Ayucus Currency Scheme Rich Fogarty The U.S. Department of Justice Managing Director, said it had seized $24 million in Alvarez and Marsal virtual currency at the request of Desiree Green The U.S. State Department in September prohibited U.S. companies from doing business Brazil’s government in connection Vice President, with Cuban military-owned Fincimex, which controls remittances to Cuba. // File Photo: with a large fraud scheme. International Government Affairs, trabajadores.cu. Page 2 Prudential Financial Laura Güemes Cambras Fincimex, the military company that controls remittances Transactions Attorney, to Cuba, said Oct. 27 that it is unwilling to shift the pro- PAYMENTS Holland & Knight cessing of the money transfers to nonmilitary entities and WhatsApp ‘Soon’ Earl Jarrett Chief Executive Officer, Q that new U.S. sanctions will mean the closure of more than to Offer Payments The Jamaica National Group 400 Western Union offices across the island. Western Union has said it Service in Brazil: Thomas Morante is “exploring ways to comply with the new rules,” which go into effect Attorney Campos Neto Carlton Fields in late November. How much have U.S. sanctions curtailed the flow of WhatsApp will “soon” be able to Manuel Orozco remittances to Cuba? What trends will remittances to the country see in launch its payments system in Senior Fellow, Brazil, said the country’s central Inter-American Dialogue coming years, and how will U.S. politics play a role? To what extent does Cuba’s military benefit from its current role in processing remittances? bank chief, Roberto Campos Neto. Adalberto Palma-Gomez WhatsApp had rolled out the Senior Partner, Proxy, Gobernanza Corporativa service in June, but the central bank and the antitrust regulator Rodolfo Pittaluga Fernando X. Donayre, chief investment officer and founder shut it down. Adjunct Professor, of INCA Investments in Miami: “This latest, and last, measure Florida International University Page 3 College of Law of the Trump administration is a continuation of a policy Fabian Saide intended to force regime change via the strangulation of the Founder, CEO and President, A Cuban economy. It is the perpetuation of a hardline policy, that apart Paykii from the opening with Cuba under the Obama administration, has not Roberto Teixeira da Costa Founder & Board Member Emeritus succeeded for 50-plus years. The further shutdown of remittances will CEBRI hurt the Cuban military, as a partner of the Cuban government and the Mario Trujillo CEO, most important economic player on the island, in its ability to control the DolEx Dollar Express country’s hard currency reserves. However, it will once again be the Cuban people that will be most negatively affected by further diminishing their ability to obtain food and other basic goods. This measure will not move the Cuban government any closer to changing its political model, which is underscored by its response to the measure. Instead of resolving this issue by changing the commercial relationship with Western Union from a Campos Neto // File Photo: Brazilian- Central Bank. Continued on page 3 COPYRIGHT © 2020, INTER-AMERICAN DIALOGUE PAGE 1 FINANCIAL SERVICES ADVISOR November 5-18, 2020 BANKING NEWS country with a very open economy,” said Lagos, NEWS BRIEFS who was in office from 2000 to 2006. Chilean Central Bank Brazil’s Itaú Unibanco Sees Fall in Q3 Profit Warns of Risks to ANTI-MONEY LAUNDERING NEWS Brazil’s Itaú Unibanco, the largest nongovern- Financial System ment lender in the South American country, on U.S. Seizes $24 Mn in Nov. 3 registered a fall in recurring net income The Covid-19 pandemic is continuing to pose Virtual Currency in in the third quarter, driven by a surge of nearly the most significant risk to Chile’s financial 41 percent in its loan-loss provisioning as system, the country’s central bank warned Brazil Fraud Scheme compared to a year earlier, Reuters reported. Nov. 11 in a report, Reuters reported. Amid the The bank’s third-quarter recurring net income, pandemic, financial institutions’ ability to take The U.S. Department of Justice announced which does not include one-off items, was 5.03 action to mitigate the crisis is diminishing, the Nov. 4 that it had seized $24 million in virtual billion reais ($873.87 million), higher than the central bank said, adding that it has already currency at the request of Brazil’s govern- 4.938 billion reais estimate by Refinitiv. expended 40 percent of its assets through ment in connection to a large fraud scheme. August in order to support liquidity and the Brazilian authorities say tens of thousands of country’s credit markets, the wire service Brazilians may have been defrauded of more Uber Begins Taking reported. Low growth that could worsen the than $200 million through the scheme, the Jus- Instant Payments in Brazil economic effects of the pandemic and a tice Department said. Federal prosecutors in dwindling ability of financial institutions to take Brazil have charged several people in the case, in Partnership With Ebanx measures to adapt to the situation are posing known as “Operation Egypto,” according to the Uber Technologies on Nov. 16 began accepting risks that could transform “liquidity problems Justice Department. The seizures of virtual cur- instant payments in Brazil in partnership with into solvency complications,” the central bank rency were related to the alleged involvement payments start-up Ebanx, Reuters reported. said in its Financial Stability Report. “These of Marcos Antonio Fagundes. The Brazilian The service is likely to bring the company new measures were designed to deal with liquidity stands charged with several crimes in his home clients, mainly ones who do not use payment problems temporarily,” the report added. The country, including the operation of a financial cards, Uber told the wire service in an email. central bank also said that concerns have been institution without legal authorization, fraud- Approximately a third of Brazilians lack a bank raised about Chile’s sovereign debt rating due ulent management of a financial institution, account, one of the highest rates in the world. to worsening conditions of balance sheets and misappropriation, money laundering and viola- Uber is initially accepting instant payments a “sustained” increase in public debt. Those tion of securities laws, the Justice Department only through its Uber Cash wallet. Uber’s ride factors are added to a $29 billion package said. A court in Brazil issued a seizure order business will not yet participate in the service, that the government announced and which of virtual currency in the United States that Fa- but its food-delivery service, Uber Eats, will be includes emergency loans and mortgage gundes owned or controlled. From August 2017 added in coming weeks, Reuters reported. deferrals. Some of these government efforts to May 2019, Fagundes and other defendants may have “undesirable effects” that include allegedly solicited money from prospective complications involving the evaluation of credit investors over the Internet and sometimes over risks and interest rate policy, according to the the telephone, and held the money in a way that Jamaica Eying Higher central bank. In addition, the central bank said subjected it to financial institution regulations, Rates Next Year for “changes to the legal framework” could “render with which Fagundes and the others alleged- Property Insurance more difficult the functioning of financial mar- ly failed to comply, the Justice Department kets and the solvency of financial institutions.” said, citing Brazilian court documents. The Premiums for property insurance will rise next Last month, Chileans overwhelmingly voted for alleged scheme involved solicitations for year in Jamaica, according to a top official of a new constitution, a main demand of protest- “innovative investment opportunities” involving the Insurance Association of Jamaica, the Ja- ers that have taken to the streets in Chile since investments in cryptocurrencies, the Justice maica Gleaner reported Nov. 15. The Covid-19 last year. However, some businesses fear that Department added. “The Brazilian court found, pandemic forced large insurers to put premium the changes could stifle investment. In an in- however, that only a very small amount of increases on hold in the Caribbean, but prop- terview Oct. 26 with the Latin America Advisor, funds were invested in cryptocurrencies as erty rates are “definitely going up next year,” former Chilean President Ricardo Lagos said a promised, and very little was returned to the said the official, Sharon Donaldson, who is new constitution would not have negative ef- investors,” the department said in a statement. also managing director of the General Accident fects on the country’s private sector. “Chile is a “To carry out the scheme, the conspirators are Insurance Company. COPYRIGHT © 2020, INTER-AMERICAN DIALOGUE PAGE 2 FINANCIAL SERVICES ADVISOR November 5-18, 2020 alleged to have made false and inconsistent FEATURED Q&A / Continued from page 1 promises to investors about the way the funds were invested and exaggerated the rates of military entity to a state-owned bank, Cuban administration’s claims, such as the notion return,” it added.