Finance

Santander, BBVA and Sabadell relaunch personal banking to hold off neobanks
Spain's large banks have refocused on personal banking, the segment of clients with assets between 100,000 and 500,000 euros, as a defensive move against neobanks. Santander, BBVA and Sabadell have revised their strategy with organizational changes or an expanded service offering. Digital players such as Trade Republic, Revolut and MyInvestor are gaining ground among clients with greater savings and investment capacity thanks to their product range, competitive fees and digital operations.
FinanceInternationalExpansiónOct 25AI
Wärtsilä expands role to EPC contracts at seven power plants in Brazil
Wärtsilä expanded its role in seven power plant projects in northeastern Brazil after amending its agreements with Origem Energia. Initial equipment supply orders become full Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) contracts, with responsibility for handing over the thermal infrastructure. The Pilar, Pilar Nova and Manguaba I to V projects, in Alagoas, will add 371 MW with 36 Wärtsilä 34SG gas engines. Pilar and Pilar Nova expect to operate in October 2028 and Manguaba from August 2029.
FinanceInternationalInspenetOct 25AI
Checks, guarantees and tokenization: the alternatives Argentine SMEs are exploring as bank credit loses ground
Argentine SMEs are seeking financing outside bank channels due to requirements, fees and waiting times. According to specialists, discounting checks and promissory notes in the capital market, guarantees from Reciprocal Guarantee Societies, asset tokenization and dollar staking for cash surpluses are gaining ground. The CNV enabled repo operations on deferred payment checks, promissory notes and SME electronic credit invoices, and Resolution 94/2026 incorporated blockchain into guarantees.
FinanceInternationalInfobaeOct 25AI
Wall Street loses patience with AI: Big Tech's billion-dollar investments put the market to the test
Wall Street awaits results from Alphabet, Microsoft and Amazon with attention on how much they invest in artificial intelligence and when it will pay off. After Meta said it expects to raise its spending commitments by US$125 billion to US$825 billion, its stock fell 6.1%. Traders are retreating to Treasuries and the 10-year yield is back below 5% for the first time in a month.
FinanceInternationalBloomberg LíneaOct 25AI
US Halloween candy sales off to a slow start on chocolate prices and affordability concerns
Halloween candy sales fell 6.7% in the month ended October 17 versus the same period a year earlier, according to NielsenIQ, which also recorded an 11.7% drop in mid-September. High living costs and chocolate prices explain the slowdown: candy and gum prices rose 44% over five years, compared with 22.5% for food eaten at home. Cocoa hit an all-time high of $10,710 per metric ton in January 2025.
FinanceInternationalTelemundoOct 25AI
Havana complaint: a bank branch resumes service minutes after a journalist arrives
A complaint shared on Facebook reports that a bank branch in Old Havana, at Prado and Ánimas y Virtudes, sent customers home citing an alleged server outage and resumed service within minutes after a journalist from the official press arrived, without technicians coming to repair the system. The post drew reactions and other accounts of long lines and failures at banks in the capital, amid a cash access crisis.
FinanceInternationalCiberCubaOct 25AI
US banks restrict AI agents' access to customer accounts
Morgan Stanley, JPMorgan, Bank of America and Citi are already restricting or blocking access by artificial intelligence agents operating inside customer accounts, according to Axios. The entry was not an attack: the customer gives their username and password to the assistant so it can review transactions or pay bills. A bank executive admitted they cannot tell whether an agent was authorized or acted on its own. Jamie Dimon said the customer who authorizes an agent assumes that responsibility.
FinanceInternationalInfobaeOct 25AI
Entry-level job openings at US banks fall nearly 5% since 2022
The number of entry-level positions at US banks has fallen nearly 5% since 2022, the year ChatGPT launched, according to a report by Revelio Labs, which analyzes employment data from public records including LinkedIn profiles. Employment at mid and senior levels continued to grow. The divergence appears at firms such as JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America and Citigroup. Wells Fargo has fewer positions at both levels, while Goldman Sachs expanded hiring. The report notes that banking jobs are especially exposed to artificial intelligence.
FinanceInternationalBloomberg LíneaOct 25AI
A projection using 2026 Forbes data puts Carlos Slim ahead of Salinas Pliego over ten years
A hypothetical projection based on 2026 Forbes figures places Carlos Slim as the candidate with the greatest advantage to keep topping Mexico's richest list in 2036. Slim leads the ranking with an estimated fortune of 125 billion dollars, 51.5% more than in 2025, while Ricardo Salinas Pliego ranks seventh with 3.7 billion, 24.4% less than the 4.9 billion reported the previous year.
FinanceInternationalAmbitoOct 25AI
ASML, Europe's most valuable company at $670 billion, according to a ranking of 42 countries
Canadian site Visual Capitalist identified the most valuable company in each of 42 European countries, using data from StockAnalysis.com and local exchanges as of September 29, 2026. Dutch firm ASML, a maker of chip lithography machines, tops the list with $670 billion. It is followed by UK bank HSBC ($342.35 billion), Swiss pharmaceutical company Roche ($341.5 billion), Germany's Siemens ($246.27 billion) and France's L'Oréal ($230.18 billion). In 28 countries the leader is a financial or energy company.
FinanceInternationalClarin.comOct 25AI
Spain's solar boom meets zero prices: one in two renewable projects never gets built
Rising solar generation is pushing wholesale electricity prices to zero or even negative values during peak production hours, often below €30/MWh. According to Expansión, one in two renewable projects in Spain never materializes: of 280,400 MW planned, only about 34,200 MW were built. Storage batteries are increasingly required by banks to finance new parks.
FinanceInternationalXatakaOct 25AI
JPMorgan expects bond yield stabilization to lift stocks through year-end
JPMorgan strategists led by Mislav Matejka believe this year's rise in government bond yields may be nearing its limit and that the bond market shows signs of oversold conditions. The bank's fixed income team keeps year-end targets at or below current levels. A stabilization would ease pressure on equity valuations, which have already contracted by about three points for the MSCI All-Country World and the S&P 500. The bank sees more favorable conditions for stocks if yields stabilize and earnings grow.
FinanceInternationalRevista ADVFNOct 25AI
Argentine exports top USD 100 billion over 12 months and trade surplus reaches USD 26.472 billion
According to Indec data released during the week, Argentina's exports over the last 12 months exceeded USD 100 billion (USD 100.845 billion) and the trade balance for the same period reached USD 26.472 billion, both records. In September, external sales hit a monthly high of USD 10.036 billion. The cash-basis surplus could exceed USD 30 billion by year-end, although imports fell 2.5% and capital goods showed sharp volume declines.
FinanceInternationalInfobaeOct 25AI
Western luxury loses ground in China as second-hand market booms
With China's economy not fully recovered from the pandemic, Western luxury brands are feeling the pressure as consumers increasingly opt for second-hand goods or new brands. The personal luxury market in mainland China contracted between 3% and 5% in 2025, after plunging 19% in 2024, according to Bain & Company, while the second-hand luxury market grew between 15% and 20%. Louis Vuitton closed five stores in mainland China over the past two years.
FinanceInternationalUDG TVOct 25AI
Hiep Phuoc LNG plant reaches 60% civil works, targets 2028 start
The 1,200 MW Hiep Phuoc LNG plant in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, has completed 60% of its civil works and 20% of equipment installation. The project, with an estimated investment of $892.8 million and Siemens Energy turbines, expects the progressive commercial start-up of its three units between October and December 2028. HPPC is also studying expansions that would take the complex to 4,200 MW.
FinanceInternationalInspenetOct 25AI
Brazil votes in runoff between Lula and Flávio Bolsonaro with a technical tie
Brazil holds its presidential runoff this Sunday, October 25, between incumbent Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and Senator Flávio Bolsonaro, son of former president Jair Bolsonaro. About 158 million citizens are eligible to vote and seven pollsters show a technical tie. In the first round on October 4 the gap was 1.9 percentage points, the narrowest since 1985. Bolsonaro proposes cutting public spending and taxes; Lula favors social protection and state investment.
FinanceInternationalVanguardiaOct 25AI
Wholesale electricity price jumps 75.95% and the most expensive hour reaches 300 euros/MWh
The wholesale electricity price stands at 196.86 euros per megawatt hour this Monday, October 26, 2026, 75.95% more than Sunday's 111.88 euros, according to data from the Iberian Energy Market Operator (OMIE). The most expensive hour will be from 20:00 to 21:00, at 300.00 €/MWh, with 16 slots above 200 euros. The cheapest will be from 14:00 to 15:00, at 56.54 €/MWh. The PVPC will be known late in the afternoon.
FinanceInternationalNoticias TrabajoOct 25AI
Ecuadorian appliance chains move Black Friday forward to November 20
Stores belonging to Ecuador's Association of Home Appliance Warehouses (Asadelec) will move Black Friday forward to November 20, 2026, and expect double-digit revenue growth. The guild, which groups ten chains including Artefacta, Comandato, Crecos, Jaher, Japón, La Ganga, Marcimex, Orve Hogar, Sukasa and Todo Hogar, is restocking inventory and preparing promotions. The date change aims to avoid clashing with the sectional calendar and with citizens' travel for the elections.
FinanceInternationalEl UniversoOct 25AI
Investors buy default protection to hedge AI-linked debt
Investors are increasing their use of credit default swaps (CDS) to hedge exposure to debt issued by companies tied to artificial intelligence infrastructure. Morgan Stanley reported that average weekly trading volume in CDS linked to bonds from issuers such as Oracle, Alphabet, Amazon, Meta, Broadcom and Nvidia exceeded $9 billion in September, up from less than $2 billion in July. AI-linked debt issuance reached about $466 billion so far in 2026, compared with $101 billion in the same period of 2025.
FinanceInternationalRevista ADVFNOct 25AI
Chase, BofA, Wells Fargo, Citi and Morgan Stanley restrict AI agents' access to customer accounts
Five of the largest US banks —JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, Wells Fargo, Citi and Morgan Stanley— have begun restricting third-party AI agents' access to customer accounts, according to reports cited by the outlet. Citi confirmed it does not allow external assistants to log in or make transactions, though it permits read-only access through approved open banking providers. The trigger is an authentication problem: systems verify credentials, not whether a person or an autonomous agent is behind them.
FinanceInternationalEl Ecosistema StartupOct 25AI