Argentina

• Friday, March 23rd 2012 - 22:56 UTC

  Fitch lowers Repsol-YPF rating; growing intervention of Argentine government feared

  

  Fitch Ratings has lowered its long-term rating on Spanish oil company Repsol YPF SA by one notch to BBB after its Argentine unit said it would pay out its dividend in shares instead of cash. Last week Moody’s adopted a similar decision. The company is currently in a dispute with the Argentine government.

• Friday, March 23rd 2012 - 22:51 UTC

  Argentina has at least a three-tier foreign money market: formal, informal and ‘cash overseas’

  

  The strict foreign currency controls and restrictions on the purchase of US dollars in Argentina have created the traditional black or informal market and a more sophisticated option by acquiring dollar denominated assets which can be cashed overseas such would be the case of shares from companies trading in New York.

• Friday, March 23rd 2012 - 06:00 UTC

  World’s largest beef producer cuts losses in Argentina and prepares to leave

  

  Brazil’s JBS, the world's biggest beef producer is on the verge of exiting Argentina due to a difficult business environment and because it is not prepared to tolerate further losses in the country.

• Thursday, March 22nd 2012 - 22:10 UTC

  Argentina warns UK and US market regulators about ‘illicit’ oil activities in the Falklands

  

  Argentina has asked British and US market regulators to probe whether oil companies that are involved in hydrocarbons exploration off the disputed Falklands/Malvinas Islands have told investors about the risks of their “illicit” drilling, the Argentine Foreign Ministry reported.

• Thursday, March 22nd 2012 - 21:23 UTC

  Peru ministers disagree and public opinion divided on HMS Montrose incident

  

  Peruvian ministers openly disagreed over the recent decision to turn back the Royal Navy’s HMS Montrose, in solidarity with Argentina and its sovereignty claims over the Falklands/Malvinas Islands.

• Thursday, March 22nd 2012 - 02:02 UTC

  Protesting Malvinas veterans occupy emblematic former “Tower of the English”

  

  Argentine former soldiers deployed to Patagonia during the Malvinas War decided to occupy the Torre Monumental (formerly know as the “Torre de los Ingleses”, or Tower of the English) in Retiro, as they continue with their claim for official recognition of their “war veteran status.”

• Thursday, March 22nd 2012 - 01:55 UTC

  Argentine government and YPF can’t agree on the future of the oil company

  

  Argentina and Repsol-YPF oil corporation again clashed on Wednesday over the future of the Spanish owned company while members of President Cristina Fernandez administration said measures “can not be discarded” thus re-launching fears about further government actions.

• Wednesday, March 21st 2012 - 06:32 UTC

  Argentina denies protectionism; claims imports in 2011 soared 30%

  

  Foreign Affairs minister Hector Timerman said on Tuesday “there is no country” in the world that can say Argentina is protectionist and claimed it is the G20 member that saw imports soar most between 2010 and 2011.

• Wednesday, March 21st 2012 - 06:16 UTC

  HMS Montrose: Argentina thanks Humala; Peruvian opposition calls minister “incompetent and foolish”

  

  During a live press conference on Tuesday, Argentine President Cristina Fernández thanked “the Peruvian government and population” for their decision to leave without effect the scheduled, but controversial, visit of a British frigate “in support of the Argentine sovereignty claim over the Malvinas Islands.”

• Wednesday, March 21st 2012 - 04:41 UTC

  Next Mercosur summit in Mendoza, June 26/28; Brazil takes the relay

  

  The next Mercosur presidential summit is scheduled to take place next 26/28 June in the city of Mendoza, when the rotating chair will be handed for the following six months to Brazil.