President Dilma Rousseff’s austerity program to fix Brazil's shaky finances is again in trouble after her point man in the Senate was arrested in a widening corruption scandal, and it could reignite calls for her impeachment. "The arrest felt like a nuclear bomb here in the presidential palace," said a Rousseff aide who asked... Continue Reading →
Brazil corruption probe widens; Senate leader, BTG Pactual CEO arrested
The chief executive of Brazil's biggest independent investment bank and the leading senator in the governing coalition were arrested on Wednesday on suspicion of obstructing the country's most sweeping corruption investigation ever. The detention of such prominent power brokers on orders from the Supreme Court raised the stakes dramatically in a bribery scandal that started... Continue Reading →
BTG CEO’s Arrest Triggers Big Question: How Much Cash Will Flee?
Within hours of the arrest of BTG Pactual Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Andre Esteves on Wednesday, the bank’s stock was down as much as 39 percent and the bonds 20 percent. The rationale behind that initial panic was this: Without Esteves, the billionaire executive who’s widely considered to be one of Brazil’s most-talented bankers,... Continue Reading →
Brazil crisis may have silver lining: rule of law
By Martin Langfield November 25, 2015 The author is a Reuters Breakingviews columnist. The opinions expressed are his own. The news from Brazil will get worse before it gets better. The arrest of billionaire banker André Esteves suggests room for further nasty surprises from the Petrobras corruption probe. The roughly $2 trillion economy, Latin America’s biggest,... Continue Reading →
How Brazil’s Banking Golden Boy, Arrested in Rio, Built an Empire
Andre Esteves, the brash banker who once joked his firm’s name, Grupo BTG Pactual, stood for ‘better than Goldman,’ became the latest high-profile executive dragged into Brazil’s widening corruption scandal. The 47-year-old billionaire was arrested Wednesday in Rio de Janeiro, along with Senator Delcidio Amaral, police said. Esteves allegedly sought an agreement with Amaral to interfere with testimony... Continue Reading →
Brazil Arrests Snare Ruling Party, Risk Stalling Economic Plan
Brazil’s second high-profile arrest in 24 hours of a ruling party member and allies renews pressure on President Dilma Rousseff and risks sidetracking her economic agenda just as she began to recover some support in Congress. Police on Wednesday arrested the government’s leader in the Senate, Delcidio Amaral, and billionaire banker Andre Esteves on accusations... Continue Reading →
Brazil’s BTG Pactual Bonds, Shares Slump After CEO Arrest
Grupo BTG Pactual SA’s benchmark bond yields nearly doubled after the lender’s billionaire Chief Executive Officer Andre Esteves was arrested in a corruption probe on Wednesday. Yields on the bank’s $1 billion in bonds due 2020, its most liquid dollar-denominated notes, surged 5.78 percentage points to 12.5 percent as of 2:51 p.m. in Sao Paulo... Continue Reading →
Brazilians do not know where the buck stops…
This morning, the Brazilian Federal Police armed with arrest warrants, issued by the federal prosecutors and the Supreme Court, arrested Delcidio Amaral, senior senator for the Workers Party and Senate Leader, and Andre Esteves , billionaire CEO/owner of investment bank BTG Pactual. Both charged with trying to buy the silence of ex Petrobras International... Continue Reading →
Pemex Rating Cut by Moody’s on Falling Output, Low Oil Prices
Petroleos Mexicanos lost its highest credit rating ever as Moody’s Investor Service downgraded the state oil producer one level, citing a deteriorating credit profile because of lower crude prices, high taxes and falling production. The cut leaves Mexico City-based Pemex at Baa1, the third lowest investment grade and one level below Mexico’s sovereign rating of... Continue Reading →
BTG Pactual CEO Esteves Arrested In Brazil’s Graft Probe, Police Say
Andre Esteves, the Brazilian billionaire who transformed Grupo BTG Pactual into the largest independent investment bank in Latin America, was arrested as part of the corruption probe that has engulfed the state-run oil giant and some of the nation’s biggest builders. Federal police arrested the banker in Rio de Janeiro after first searching for him... Continue Reading →
Brazil Energy Insight 