JBS SA will proceed with plans to list a U.S.-based unit when market conditions allow, as the world's No. 1 meatpacker wrestles with a shareholder revolt over the role of the controlling Batista family in a massive graft scandal. In a conference call to discuss second-quarter results, CEO Wesley Batista said JBS Foods International Inc could be listed by the end of next year, once parent JBS finalizes 6 billion Reais (US$1.9 billion) in asset sales to cut debt and restore investor confidence.
Brazil on Thursday exempted foreign investors from paying a financial transaction tax on purchases of real estate investment trusts traded on the country's stock exchange. Since early last year the government of President Dilma Rousseff has aimed to develop funding alternatives for local builders, many of which are overly dependent on loans from state development bank BNDES, the main source of long-term corporate financing in Brazil.
Brazil’s bank lending expanded in March at the second-slowest pace in 13 months as the government stepped up efforts to contain demand and inflation by curbing credit to consumers.