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Panorama

No business as usual while Latin America’s national teams dribbled and punted their way through this year’s World Cup.

Chile: 2,600 Miles of Discoveries

Visitors will find everything from colonial grandeur to modern efficiency in South America’s economic powerhouse, where most tourist areas emerged unscathed from the February earthquake.

Cash Flow Financiers

MANAGUA, Nicaragua — One of the biggest challenges for a pioneering Nicaraguan factoring firm was overcoming resistance from business owners who distrusted the idea of exchanging receivables for cash.

Flying High

Latin America represents one of the hottest growth opportunities for airlines, as competition makes mergers and alliances the new name of the game.
Travelers flying around Latin America today are enjoying options that were unimaginable just a few years ago. Given the bevy of new routes, direct access to more cities and the entry of scrappy, [...]

Google Strikes Gold in Latin America

A mere five years after formally launching localized services in Latin America, Google dominates the regional search engine market. Its name has entered the popular lexicon – as a verb – in Spanish, just as it has in English. Its social networking site Orkut is wildly popular in Brazil, besting competitors like Facebook.

Corporate Banking Comes of the Global Age

Thomas D. Avazian was part of a local management committee for Bank of America in Mexico City when the North American Free Trade Agreement took effect more than 15 years ago.
“We opened the full banking subsidiary in 1994,” said Avazian, now senior vice president for Latin America and the Caribbean at Bank of America Merrill [...]

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  • LT CFO Events-Miami, USA, 2008

    LT CFO Events-Miami, USA, 2008

    See our video of the 2008 LT CFO Forum

  • LT CFO Events-São Paulo, Brazil, July 22, 2010

    BRAZIL AND THE GLOBAL ECONOMIC OUTLOOK

    EXPORTING EXCELLENCE: THE BRAZILIAN CFO PERSPECTIVE

    LEADING HIGH PERFORMING FINANCE OPERATIONS IN BRAZIL: THE FOREIGN MULTINATIONAL EXPERIENCE

    KEYNOTE ADDRESS: U.S. – BRAZIL: TAKING BILATERAL RELATIONS GLOBAL

    LT CFO Event,
    São Paulo, Brazil,
    July 22, 2010

    Panelist:
    Fabio Akira Hashizume, Executive Director & Chief Economist, J.P. Morgan Brazil

    Key Points:
    » Receiving an investment grade rating in 2008 was a critical point in Brazil’s modern economic history, validating the orthodox economic and monetary policies implemented more than a decade earlier.

  • E-Readers: The Digital Dilemma

    E-Readers: The Digital Dilemma

    The runaway success of the Apple iPad in the United States has prompted the makers of e-readers to lower prices for the devices that store the text of thousands of books. More manufacturers are launching tablet computers that, like the iPad, will similarly straddle the territory between smart phones and notebooks and feature e-reading applications. The monochromatic e-readers tout their easier-to-read type, particularly in bright sunlight, and longer-lasting batteries (provided the WiFi is off) that can hold up on a business or leisure trip. Small, slim and light, they slip readily into a coat pocket or purse. For avid readers, particularly those on the go and those who don’t need – or want – a multipurpose, heavier tablet, a dedicated e-reader may be the best option.

  • Latin 500: End of An Era for Mexico’s FEMSA

    Latin 500: End of An Era for Mexico’s FEMSA

    MEXICO CITY — Mexicans slaked their thirsts during the World Cup with plenty of beer – even though the initial matches kicked off at 6:30 in the morning local time and the national squad exited early on in the contest.

  • Latin 500: Brazil’s Homebuilding Stimulus Program Marks Boon to Construction Firms

    Latin 500: Brazil’s Homebuilding Stimulus Program Marks Boon to Construction Firms

    SÃO PAULO — For much of the construction sector — especially in Brazil — the year 2009 could be summed up with the question: Crisis? What crisis?

  • Latin 500: Mining Companies Dig Out from Global Downturn

    Latin 500: Mining Companies Dig Out from Global Downturn

    [ Mining Industry ]
    By Lisa K. Wing
    LIMA, Peru — Mining companies across Latin America took a pounding in 2009 as the worldwide economic storm battered the prices of copper, iron and other metals. Two-thirds of the 36 mining companies on the Latin 500 corporate ranking saw their revenue and earnings drop, one of the worst [...]

  • Latin 500: A Study in Contrasts

    Latin 500: A Study in Contrasts

    [ Oil industry ]
    By Thierry Ogier
    São Paulo — Buoyed by huge, new potential oil reserves and a stellar financial performance, the Brazilian energy company Petrobras in 2009 bolstered its regional dominance as the No. 1 company in Latin America. The oil giant’s double-digit increases in both revenue and earnings further underscored the growing distance [...]

  • Latin 500: Walmart Revs Up Regional Presence

    Latin 500: Walmart Revs Up Regional Presence

    MEXICO CITY — When storm clouds began to gather over the global economy, the largest retailer in Latin America – and one of the region’s 10 largest companies overall – hunkered down to weather the downturn.

  • Latin 500: Convergence Ushers in Integration

    Latin 500: Convergence Ushers in Integration

    MEXICO CITY — When the economic crisis came calling, it went straight to voicemail for the region’s biggest telecom players. Both Spain’s Telefónica (No. 3) and Mexico’s America Móvil (No. 4) posted big increases in revenue and profits in 2009 and are outranked only by the big three state-owned oil companies in Latin America.

  • Latin 500: Success Seeds Philanthropy

    Latin 500: Success Seeds Philanthropy

    Latin America’s homegrown corporations and wealthy families hold out prospects for a golden age of giving because the region’s philanthropic levels still fall short of the rest of the world.

  • Latin 500: Private Money Takes Over Development

    Latin 500: Private Money Takes Over Development

    In a high-profile ceremony in Mexico City in early June, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the Carlos Slim Health Institute, the government of Spain and the Inter-American Development Bank rolled out a groundbreaking initiative to provide health services to the poor in parts of Central America and southern Mexico.

  • Latin Trade CFO Forum / Mexico City

    Latin Trade CFO Forum / Mexico City

    Mexico now boasts a $1 trillion economy that has weathered one of its worst crises in the past century. Despite recent improvement in the Mexican and world economies, executives who manage company finances still face challenges ranging from lack of liquidity to price volatility.

  • BRAVO Council / Panama

    BRAVO Council / Panama

    BRAVO Council meeting focuses on the future of the most recent Latin American country to achieve an investment grade rating

  • BRAVO Council / Cartagena

    The New South: Latin America Offers Trade for Asia and Opportunities for Global Companies
    By Joachim Bamrud
    CARTAGENA, Colombia – The rising influence of Brazil in the hemisphere, the continuing improvement in Colombia’s economy and the growing clout of Asia in the region dominated the discussion during a recent Bravo Council held in Colombia’s largest Caribbean city.
    Regional [...]

  • LT CFO Events-Mexico D.F., June 16, 2010

    ECONOMY AND LIQUIDITY:
    MANAGING IN TODAY’S CHALLENGING ENVIRONMENT

    PROCUREMENT BEST PRACTICES

    FINANCIAL OPTIMIZATION IN THE SUPPLY CHAIN

    LT CFO Event,
    Mexico D.F.,
    June 16, 2010

    Panelists:

    Gabriel Casillas, Vice President and Chief Economist – Mexico, J.P. Morgan
    Ricardo Rivera, Deputy Director of Treasury and Finance, América Móvil

    Key Points:

    » Mexican economic growth in 2010 will reach about 4.5 percent, driven primarily by external demand and helped by low interest rates and a cheap peso.

  • Statistics, Logistics and the Rebound

    Statistics, Logistics and the Rebound

    Latin America leads the way as global trade picks up from its steep decline in 2009

  • Wine Time in Mendoza

    Wine Time in Mendoza

    Diageo, the world’s largest drinks company, shrugged off the downturn in global wine sales and upped its long-term bet on Mendoza, with its ideal climate and hit varietal Malbec, Juan Pedro Tomás reports from the Argentine province.

  • Green is Good

    Green is Good

    For a growing number of regional companies and multinationals, being a good corporate citizen means monitoring environmental impact and adopting sustainable business practices.

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