While Latin America’s financial leaders celebrate the region’s growth, analysts warn that reform momentum must be maintained. James Eedes reports from Okinawa.

ARGENTINA could re-open its debt exchange to the 24% of investors who rejected it, once the country’s Congressional elections in October are over.

Credit cards are becoming more popular in Mexico but banks have barely scratched the surface of the potential customer base. Monica Campbell reports from Mexico City on how lenders are grabbing a share of this huge market.
While Mexicans do not yet face the blizzard of credit card deals seen in wealthier nations, the credit card culture there is catching on fast and commercial banks are jockeying to get their share of the action.

Uruguay is bouncing back from the economic downturn caused by its over-reliance on Argentina. Tighter banking supervision will be key to maintaining the country’s growth. Jason Mitchell reports from Montevideo.
Uruguayan authorities need to tighten banking supervision if the country is to regain its reputation as a sound financial centre.

As neoconservative and George W Bush ally Paul Wolfowitz takes the top job, the developing world is keeping its fingers crossed.

Enrique García, president and CEO of Corporación Andina de Fomento, sees social consensus as key to breathing new life into LatAm reform programmes.

Bermuda is discussing whether to sever ties with the UK, with opinion sharply polarised. Mairi Mallon assesses the implications for the financial sector.

Central Bank initiatives are enabling Brazil’s low-earning citizens to access banking services. Jonathan Wheatley reports from São Paulo on the benefits for both local communities and the financial institutions that cater for them.
Standing in line at a kiosk in Vila Nivi on the northern outskirts of São Paulo, Sandra, a 38-year-old mother of four, is upset. “I’ve been waiting 40 days for my bank card,” she says. “I’ve come here every day to complain.”

Although the offshore market is important to Latin Americans, some are now being tempted to bring their wealth onshore. Monica Campbell reports.
Thanks to a strong, more stable local banking sector, the trend among affluent Latin Americans to have their assets managed offshore is slowly reversing. Sensing an opportunity, many foreign powerhouses, such as US banks Citigroup and JP Morgan, Swiss bank UBS and the UK’s HSBC, are setting up private banking shops in the region, hoping to convince the wealthy to do their financial shopping locally, instead of heading to Miami.

Reaction to President George W Bush’s latest budget proposals – which were presented to Congress on February 7 – has been mixed, writes Jane Monahan in Washington.