Financial Regulatory Forum

SAO PAULO, March 1 (Reuters) – Growth prospects for Brazil’s asset-backed securities market have diminished significantly since regulators last month banned the use of retail investors’ money to buy such instruments, capital markets information service International Financing Review said on Monday.

In Brazil, specialized investors for years bought the securities probably with the help of retail money, which was parked in their portfolios alongside other types of funds, IFR said.

But after the securities regulator CVM changed the rules, new issues are expected to virtually ground to a halt growing only to about 550 million reais ($305 million) by year-end, IFR said.

Brazil’s ABS market, which has around $5 billion in outstanding securities, was expected to grow sharply this year despite an imminent increase in interest rates, IFR said.

Already about 500 million reais ($280 million) of the securities had been sold, according to CVM data.

By Ana Nicolaci da Costa and Isabel Versiani

BRASILIA, Feb 4 (Reuters)- Brazil’s government is mulling changes in the foreign exchange rules as part of a long-term plan to make the real a fully convertible currency, though market demand will be the key driver for those changes, a top finance ministry official told Reuters on Thursday.

A stable and growing economy has boosted demand for the Brazilian currency, which will naturally lead to steps aiming to make it fully convertible — meaning it could be freely traded and exchanged anywhere into other major currencies — said Luiz Eduardo Melin, secretary of fiscal and economic reforms at the finance ministry.

The government has no specific plan of action but is looking to implement a law allowing nonresident foreigners to hold bank accounts in Brazil, which has already been approved by Congress.

By Darren Ennis
BRUSSELS, Oct 5 (Reuters) – The European Union and Brazil will increase pressure on the United States on Tuesday to set out its demands to conclude the “Doha” round of world trade talks in 2010, a draft document showed.

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By Brian Ellsworth and Denise Luna
BRASILIA, Aug 31 (Reuters) – Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva proposed legislation on Monday to boost the role of the state in managing huge new oil finds that could drive the country’s development for decades to come.

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