THE LABOR FACTOR: RISKS OF BURGEONING LABOR-DEPENDENT INDUSTRIES IN LATIN AMERICAS

Recent trends in global consumption, such as Asia’s surging need for commodities and a growing international market for bio-fuels, have favorably positioned Latin America as a key supplier of raw materials and other base products. As multinational and local players expand to meet urgent demand, both management and investors should be aware of escalating labor issues that can undermine profitability in such ventures. Labor violations, disputes, and union-related violence are becoming more visible and costly beyond purely reputational concerns, exposing foreign investments to elevated levels of specific labor-related risks.
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“C IS FOR CONSUMPTION:” THE NEW BRAZILIAN C-CLASS CONSUMERS AND CHALLENGES AHEAD

The ongoing transformations in Brazilian socioeconomic levels and consumption profiles over the last 4 years are leveraging opportunities in a number of segments. The addition of more than 20 million people – 11% of the population – from SES level D into SES C officially transitioned them from “non-consumers” to “consumers.” However, inflation and interest rates threaten to spoil a happy ending.

A NEW FACE FOR ATMS

The number and sophistication of ATMs in Latin America continues to grow, heralding changes in how the machines contribute to the customer experience as well as to the emergence of new business models for banks and network operators. The ATM in Latin America is moving from being a cost-saving substitute for window tellers to a dynamic machine capable of reloading cellular accounts, making tax payments and becoming a nimble advertising touch-point.

BANKS RECORDS AND THE RIGHT TO PRIVACY

The evolution of anti-money laundering and counter terrorist financing regulations is causing the private banking community to speak out and claim that these actions are scaring investors away. This notion of banking privacy in the US still lingers, but does it exist in practice today?