Brazil
Sustainability Drive Sparks Green Bond Interest Across South, Central America
Sustainable energy and infrastructure projects across South and Central America are attracting attention from investors, but the outlook is challenged due to a lack of awareness on the ground.
27 Jan 2017
Brazil 2017: Here We Go (Hopefully, Not Again)
Last year was difficult to say the least, more so than 2015, despite the slightly smaller contraction of GDP. The financial health of firms in the productive sector deteriorated further, with sharp increases in filings for court-supervised reorganization and nonperforming bank loans, both reaching record levels, while unemployment rose, especially affecting household heads. What’s in store for…
26 Jan 2017
CASE STUDY: Fibria Breaks Ground with Well-Timed Green Bond
Fibria, the world’s largest producer of eucalyptus pulp, got the timing just right when it priced a US$700mn senior unsecured green bond in January 2017, halving the company’s new issue premium and cementing its position as a leading sustainable finance practitioner in Brazil.
20 Jan 2017
LatAm Dollar Pipeline Swells but Local Currency Deal Outlook Uncertain
Emerging market debt took a significant hit after the surprising victory of Donald Trump last November, which was followed by a US interest rate hike weeks later. Concern over the President-Elect’s protectionist policies provoked capital outflows and a significant spike in borrowing costs for US-linked EMs, freezing almost US$10bn worth bonds that were supposed to be issued by Latin American…
12 Jan 2017
Opinion: The Microeconomic Agenda Finally Moves Forward in Brazil
Brazil has spent too much time discussing macroeconomic policies – exchange rate, interest rate, fiscal policy. It was necessary for a long time, particularly when the country was suffering from stratospheric inflation, lack of fiscal control and grave external imbalance. Great advances have been made since the Real Plan (1994), but the debate over the economic direction of the country continues…
9 Jan 2017
Analysis: The Worst is Past for Brazil’s Credit Cycle
As economic and political conditions begin to improve, Brazil’s economy still faces many challenges. But as Vernon H. Budinger, CEO of Latin America Structured Finance Advisors, argues in his analysis, the 2015/2016 credit crisis has peaked and now might be the perfect time to invest in Brazilian credit.
22 Dec 2016
BRAZIL: Sharpening the Instruments to Break the Vicious Circle
No crisis lasts forever. But the present one in Brazil is testing the patience of everyone. GDP has contracted now for seven straight quarters, after a 2014 that was largely lethargic in terms of output. Nor is there any discussion of an inflection point to a cyclical upturn in activity. The only thing on the horizon is economic stabilisation.
21 Dec 2016
Silverado Asset-Backed Securities: Lessons for Investors
Why would Latin America Structured Finance Advisors (LASFA) write an article that airs the dirty laundry for the Brazilian Asset-backed Security market (ABS market or ABS) when it is currently seeking investors for this market? Because many foreign investors are lured by the high interest rates offered in Brazil’s local credit markets and this is a discussion that any investor needs to consider…
14 Dec 2016
No Two EM Bankruptcies the Same
Oi’s Dutch units may be forced to declare bankruptcy in the Brazilian telecom giant’s ongoing bankruptcy saga. Whilst distressed EM companies with offshore assets in DMs are appealing, bankruptcies across the EM world are nuanced and carry unique consequences for investors.
5 Dec 2016
BRAZIL: Response to Crisis Requires Honest Appraisal and Clear Path Forward
When it rains, it pours, so they say. It started with the victory of Donald Trump, which raised the level of uncertainty over the international environment, with clear repercussions on asset prices – stocks, exchange rates, future interest rates. Then came the explosion of the fiscal crisis in Rio de Janeiro, with the reaction of civil servants and resistance of the State Legislative Assembly to…
1 Dec 2016