O BTG Pactual fechou a aquisição da carteira de varejo da Planner Investimentos, que assim deixa de atuar na corretagem e assessoria de investimentos para a pessoa física.

A transação não envolve o CNPJ da corretora, que prosseguirá atuando no atendimento ao público institucional, em serviços como administração fiduciária, fundos, câmbio e operações estruturadas.

Desde que lançou o projeto do BTG Pactual Digital, em 2017, o banco já fez mais de uma dezena de aquisições, movimento que incluiu nomes da velha guarda, como Ourinvest, Necton e Fator, e também novatas como a dobradinha Empiricus/Vitreo, além de participações em corretoras nascentes com escritórios de agentes autônomos vindos da rede XP – caso de EQI, Lifetime, Arton Advisors e Acqua Vero. Tudo para ampliar a sua capacidade de distribuição.

A saída da Planner do segmento de varejo deixa para trás mais um nome tradicional do mercado de valores mobiliários no Brasil. Souza Barros, Magliano, Spinelli e Concórdia (que se juntaram para formar a Necton) não conseguiram investir em tecnologia a contento para fazer frente à concorrência das plataformas que nasceram digitais.

Por Adriana Cotias, Valor

Ler artigo na íntegra.

The Firm secured an $11.5 million judgment for the Delaware holding company of a Brazilian telecommunications company. Earlier in the case the New York court found the defendant liable for failing to make a multimillion-dollar investment. The case was scheduled for a damages trial. But when the COVID crisis postponed the trial, and the defendant resisted proceeding remotely, litigation partners Zeb Landsman and Jesse Conan devised a creative legal solution and asked the court to award damages in the amount of $7.5 million, without a trial, based on certain undisputed facts. The court agreed, assessed the damages submissions by the parties, and ruled the client was entitled to $7,499,900, plus interest.

Via Becker Glynn

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SAO PAULO, Jan 11 (Reuters) – Brazilian investment bank BTG Pactual BPAC11.SA announced on Tuesday a new share buyback program, under which it expects to repurchase up to 1 billion reais ($176.58 million) in stocks within 18 months.

BTG Pactual said in a securities filing it aims to use its cash in an efficient way with the buyback plan, looking to “maximize the company’s capital allocation”. The repurchased units will be kept in treasury, it added.

Brazilian investment bank BTG Pactual BPAC11.SA announced on Tuesday a new share buyback program, under which it expects to repurchase up to 1 billion reais ($176.58 million) in stocks within 18 months.

BTG Pactual said in a securities filing it aims to use its cash in an efficient way with the buyback plan, looking to “maximize the company’s capital allocation”. The repurchased units will be kept in treasury, it added.

Reporting by Gabriel Araujo, Editing by Louise Heavens – Reuters / Nasdaq

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President Biden Announces Nominees for Ambassadors and Key Roles

President Joe Biden announced his intent to nominate the following leaders to serve as key leaders in his administration:

  • Elizabeth Bagley, Nominee for Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to the Federative Republic of Brazil
  • Jane Hartley, Nominee for Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
  • Alexander Laskaris, Nominee for Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to the Republic of Chad
  • Alan Leventhal, Nominee for Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to the Kingdom of Denmark
  • Kathryn Huff, Nominee for Assistant Secretary for Nuclear Energy, Department of Energy
  • Deborah Coen, Nominee for Member of the National Council on the Humanities
  • William Brodsky, Nominee for Member of the Securities Investor Protection Corporation

Elizabeth Bagley, Nominee for Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to the Federative Republic of Brazil

Elizabeth Bagley has worked in diplomacy and the law for over four decades. Her diplomatic experience includes service as Senior Advisor to Secretaries of State John Kerry, Hillary Clinton, and Madeline Albright. She has also served as Special Representative to the United Nations General Assembly, Special Representative for Global Partnerships, and United States Ambassador to Portugal.

Bagley is currently the owner and Board member of SBI., a cellular communications company in Show Low, AZ. Previously, Bagley served as Of Counsel to Manatt, Phelps law firm in Washington, D.C., specializing in international law. She also worked as Adjunct Professor at Georgetown University Law Center and as Associate Producer for ABC News in Paris, France and Washington, DC. Earlier in her career, Bagley served in the State Department as congressional liaison for the Panama Canal Treaties, Special Assistant for the Camp David Accords and Congressional liaison to the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe (Helsinki Accords) in Madrid, Spain. Bagley earned a B.A. at Regis College, Weston, Massachusetts, and a J.D. at Georgetown University Law Center.

She is the recipient of numerous honors, including the Secretary of State’s Distinguished Honor Award, the Meridian International Public Diplomacy Award and the Grand Cross of Prince Henry the Navigator, Portugal’s highest civilian honor.

Via The White House

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Shearman & Sterling advised Banco do Brasil, acting through its Grand Cayman Branch, in connection with the offering of an aggregate principal amount of US$500 million 4.875 percent social bonds due 2029 issued under its Euro Medium Term Note Program.

Banco do Brasil’s Sustainable Financing Framework aligns with the International Capital Markets Association’s 2021 Green Bond Principles, 2021 Social Bonds Principles and 2021 Sustainability Bonds Guidelines, among other principles. Banco do Brasil intends to allocate an amount equal to the net proceeds from the issuance of the social bonds to finance or refinance existing or future social projects, including affordable housing, SME finance and microfinance, socioeconomic advancement and empowerment and access to essential services.

This transaction represents the continuation of the Firm’s long-standing relationship advising in connection with debt and equity securities offerings by Banco do Brasil.

Via Shearman & Sterling

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Startups and VCs see opportunities in open banking, finance and insurance

Brazilian instant payment system Pix ended 2021 having powered more than 8 billion transactions, according to statistics from the country’s Central Bank. This is quite an impressive figure for an offering only launched in November 2020 and goes to show how ubiquitous Pix has become in the country.

You could describe Pix as “a government-built version of Venmo,” as João Pedro Thompson, founder of fintech Z1, told TechCrunch. However, the analogy doesn’t fully capture the fact that Pix appeals to many more than just digitally savvy teenagers repaying friends for coffee. Otherwise, it wouldn’t be used by six of 10 Brazilians.

In a country where many people are still unbanked and queuing to pay bills is part of daily life, the impact of being able to pay anyone instantly can’t be understated. In addition, Pix now supports more services, such as letting you withdraw cash from businesses.

It’s interesting that Pix is an institutional initiative, part of a wider range of public efforts to transform Brazil’s financial landscape. “The Central Bank has been doing a tremendous job and Pix is one of the most relevant structural changes,” Brazilian VC Bruno Yoshimura told TechCrunch when we wrote about Latin America’s fintech boom.

By Anna Heim via TechCrunch

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Luiza Helena Trajano, high-profile leader of Brazilian commerce giant Magazine Luiza, epitomizes how successful entrepreneurs can be great social activists.

Super-rich entrepreneurs love to explore brash endeavors outside the mainstream of their business—say, the high-profile space race between Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk, or Larry Ellison’s obsession with the America’s Cup. But it remains genuinely rare, and worthy of attention, when a billionaire entrepreneur takes a hard look at the society around their business and commits to brash endeavors to challenge inequality, racism, and the crisis fueled by COVID-19.

That’s precisely what’s happening in Brazil, where Luiza Helena Trajano, the longtime leader of one of the country’s most celebrated companies, is generating headlines for her outsized commitments to social justice and public health. Trajano is the high-profile face of a giant electronics-and-appliance retailer named Magazine Luiza (in Portuguese, a “magazine” is a small store that sells a wide range of merchandise). Trajano’s company has become a legendary growth story whose 1,400 stores transformed retailing in Brazil, made her a billionaire, and turned a 70-year-old, 4-foot-nine-inch woman into a homespun business celebrity.

By Bill Taylor via Fast Company

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REDD is a leading provider of proprietary news on emerging market, event driven special situations. They deliver forward looking news and analytics on over 1,500 companies across the globe through an online platform and suite of mobile applications.

REDD’s recognized team of journalists and analysts report on material and impactful trading catalysts, allowing bankers, asset managers and advisors to capitalize on opportunities relevant to their unique needs.

Learn more here.

O Instituto de Pesquisas em Tecnologia e Inovação (IPTI) utiliza dados e inteligência artificial para promover agricultura local e melhorar índices nutricionais de escolas

Quando o assunto são as tecnologias sociais, o Brasil tem um potencial imenso a explorar. Com uma criatividade invejável, pesquisadores têm construído pontes entre os setores público, privado e comunidades mais vulneráveis. É este o caso da NHAM, iniciativa que busca promover a agricultura familiar e combater as altas taxas de anemia nas crianças e adolescentes da rede pública de ensino em Santa Luzia do Itanhy, em Sergipe, um dos municípios com um dos menores Índices de Desenvolvimento Humano (IDH) do Brasil.

Quem está por trás dessa investida é o Instituto de Pesquisas em Tecnologia e Inovação (IPTI), que trabalha desde 2003 na promoção de tecnologias sociais nas áreas de educação básica, educação empreendedora e saúde básica, apoiados no que denominam The Human Projectum modelo de desenvolvimento pautado na educação, cultura, inovação e tecnologia.

“Foi em 2010 que decidimos sair de São Paulo e levar o nosso centro de pesquisa e de desenvolvimento para Santa Luzia do Itanhy, em Sergipe, uma região de extrema pobreza para que pudéssemos desenvolver tecnologias sociais que atendam às demandas da maioria dos municípios brasileiros e também de comunidades de outros países da América Latina e África”, afirma Saulo Barretto, cofundador do IPTI e responsável pelas atividades de relacionamento institucional e de novos negócios.

Por Nicole Wey Gasparini, do Um Só Planeta

 

JPMorgan Chase & Co. strategists led by Marko Kolanovic say it’s time to start buying the dip in the U.S. stock market.

“The pullback in risk assets in reaction to the Fed minutes is arguably overdone,” Kolanovic wrote in a note to clients Monday. “Policy tightening is likely to be gradual and at a pace that risk assets should be able to handle, and is occurring in an environment of strong cyclical recovery.”

Stocks have tumbled, sending the S&P 500 to the worst start of a year since 2016. Richly valued technology shares have borne the brunt of the selling as traders ratcheted up their expectations for rate hikes from the Federal Reserve.

ByLu Wang via Bloomberg

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SÃO PAULO, Brazil — It was a casual conversation that led Luiza Trajano, one of Brazil’s wealthiest women, to ponder her country’s racism, to recognize her part in it — and to do something about it.

A few years back, she said, she had heard a young, accomplished Black businesswoman mention that she never attended happy hours with colleagues unless her boss explicitly asked her to join. Years of feeling the rejection that many Black Brazilians experience in predominantly white settings had taught her to seek clear invitations, the woman explained.

Ms. Trajano, who is white, felt a pang of sadness. Then an uncomfortable thought crossed her mind.

“At my birthday parties, there aren’t any Black women,” Ms. Trajano remembered thinking. “That’s structural racism that, in my case, is not born out of rejection, but out of failing to seek them out.”

That moment of introspection for Ms. Trajano, who had turned a small family business into a retail behemoth, helped plant the seeds for a bold corporate affirmative action initiative, which has drawn praise, outrage and plenty of soul searching in Brazil.

Read full article here.

Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. – Petrobras anuncia que, na data de 22 de dezembro de 2021, concluiu a renovação do seu Registro de Prateleira (shelf registration) na U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. O shelf registration permite à Petrobras ofertar valores mobiliários no mercado de capitais americano de forma ágil e abrangente, aproveitando as oportunidades de mercado, com objetivo de reduzir custos e facilitar a gestão de sua dívida.

A atual renovação ocorre após a conclusão das obrigações previstas em acordo com o Departamento de Justiça Norte-Americano (DOJ), conforme comunicado ao mercado divulgado, em 04 de outubro de 2021, e a qual permite à Petrobras o retorno ao status de emissor frequente, denominado Well-Known Seasoned Issuer (WKSI), o que possibilitou que tal registro fosse concedido de forma automática, permitindo maior flexibilidade às eventuais ofertas da companhia no futuro. O shelf registration tem validade de 3 anos.

Via Petrobras

On December 21, 2021, the Brazilian Data Protection Authority (ANPD) updated instructions on how and when data subjects can file a complaint against a data controller for possible violation of the their rights under the General Data Protection Law (LGPD). The LGPD is Brazil’s all-encompassing data protection law similar to the European Union’s GDPR. The LGPD imposes certain requirements on data processing agents (which include controllers and processors of data) to safeguard the data privacy rights of individuals (data subjects). The ANPD has the authority to impose administrative sanctions for LGPD violations.

Under the updated instructions, the data subject must first formally contact the controller to try to get their request(s) answered or addressed. If the controller fails to resolve the issue, the data subject can petition the ANPD to intercede. The petition has to be submitted online and the data subject must provide the data controller’s or processor’s contact information and a description of the situation, and submit proof that the data subject formally made a request to the controller and it was not addressed (or was not addressed timely). In exceptional circumstances the ANPD may accept anonymous petitions and/or a self-declaration that it was not possible to provide evidence, provided the identity of the complainant is not needed to investigate the facts and the information provided can be verified.

The ANPD will address a petition specifically only if the petition could potentially affect collective and broad interests. Otherwise, the ANPD will analyze aggregated requests and use the information to launch investigations, improve regulations and implement educational actions.

By Renata Neeser via Littler

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