Latin America

In the province of Imbabura in northern Ecuador, approximately a two-and-a-half-hour drive from the capital, Quito, and close to the border of Colombia, sits Yachay, the country’s first planned “city of knowledge.”

José Antonio Ocampo Gaviria, professor at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs, says the slowing of international trade since the financial crisis is a major threat to the world economy.

Trends | Taxation
Brazil is well known in the global business sector for its tax complexity, heavy tax burden (around 35% of GDP) and high use of technology for tax collection. Not for nothing do Brazilians call their tax authority—Receita Federal do Brasil—“the Lion.”

Global Finance interviews senior executives from some of the banks featured in this year’s World’s Safest Banks rankings.

Developing countries have long sought a greater voice in running the IMF and World Bank. The rise of rival development banks gives them more options—and more leverage.

A selection of winners from Global Finance’s awards program over the past year. 

Guatemala’s political turmoil, with parties deadlocked in Parliament, a runoff election looming and corruption scandals exploding, means the government will operate in a kind of suspended animation until 2016.

Regional Report | Latin America
The large economies on the east coast of Latin America—Brazil, Venezuela and Argentina—are slumping badly. Things are far different out west.

Global Finance’s annual evaluation of the work of the world’s central bankers found some stellar performances, and some dismal ones. The toughest challenge for many: propping up falling prices.

Global Finance unveils its annual list of the best banks globally, regionally and by country. The winners have provided the best service to clients.

Compared with several other markets in the region, Peru’s economy is rock-solid.

Neil Shearing, chief emerging markets economist at Capital Economics, visited Global Finance on September 10, just as Standard & Poor’s cut Brazil’s public debt to junk level. We asked him about the outlook for that country and other emerging markets.

Table Of Contents

Regional Report | As relations between Cuba and the United States get friendlier, the economic outlook of the island is also improving.

Wedged between Brazil and Argentina—two neighbors with serious economic problems—Uruguay is an attractive foreign direct investment alternative in Latin America.

Major rating agencies are chasing each other in downgrading Brazil, as the country struggles with recession, a spiraling devaluation of the real and a damaging political crisis.

In the race to attract foreign direct investment, countries are opening SEZs at a furious rate. Winnowing down the choices requires some serious due diligence.

Global Finance interviewed Derek Pattison, Scotiabank’s VP of wealth management, Bahamas, on the importance of responding to clients’ needs for any product, anywhere.  

Newsmakers | Mexico
In June, Jaime Rodríguez Calderón became the first independent candidate to be elected a state governor in Mexico, winning office in Nuevo León.

Milestones | Venezuela
Venezuela’s state-owned oil company, Petróleos de Venezuela, is being squeezed by low oil prices, and the government in Caracas is feeling the pain.