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BBC HomepageSkip to contentAccessibility HelpYour accountNotificationsHomeNewsSportWeatheriPlayerSoundsBitesizeMore menuMore menuSearch BBCHomeNewsSportWeatheriPlayerSoundsBitesizeCBBCCBeebiesFoodClose menuBBC NewsMenuHomeIsrael-Gaza warCost of LivingWar in UkraineClimateUKWorldBusinessPoliticsCultureMoreTechScienceHealthFamily & EducationIn PicturesNewsbeatBBC VerifyDisabilityWorldAfricaAsiaAustraliaEuropeLatin AmericaMiddle EastUS & CanadaHSBC agrees to sell off its Argentina businessPublished10 minutes agoShareclose panelShare pageCopy linkAbout sharingImage source, ReutersBy Ione Wells & Robert PlummerBBC News, São Paulo and LondonBanking giant HSBC is selling off its business in Argentina at a $1bn (£790m) loss after years of battling with the country’s unstable exchange rate. HSBC Argentina, which has more than 100 branches and 3,100 employees, will be bought by Grupo Financiero Galicia, a major private financial group.Annual inflation in Argentina hit 276.2% last month, the highest in the world. Five years ago, $1 would buy 43 pesos. It is now worth more than 860 pesos.HSBC has been in Argentina since 1997, when it took full control of the local Banco Roberts and renamed it. That same year, it established itself in neighbouring Brazil by taking over the ailing Bamerindus bank, leading some observers to speak of its “relentless march into Latin America”.HSBC still holds on in Brazil, but purely as an investment bank: it sold its retail banking operation there in 2015. Other operations elsewhere in the world have been sold off in recent years as the London-based bank has pivoted to focus more on faster-growing markets in Asia.HSBC said the sale of its Argentine business, for $550m, will see it book a $1bn loss in its first-quarter results this year.The size of the loss could vary for several reasons, including “associated hyperinflation and foreign currency translation”, HSBC said on Tuesday.Over the next 12 months, the business will also recognise $4.9bn in losses from historical currency translation reserves.This refers to the loss that is racked up by translating the financial performance of the Argentine business, which is counted in pesos, on to HSBC’s overall balance sheet, which is counted in US dollars.”These reserve losses have accumulated over many years and arise from the cumulative translation of the Argentinian peso-denominated book value of HSBC Argentina into US dollars,” HSBC said.In 2023 alone, these losses grew by $1.8bn, the bank added.The exact losses may well change between now and when the sale goes through, because the exchange rate is constantly changing. HSBC chief executive Noel Quinn said: “We are pleased to agree the sale of HSBC Argentina.”This transaction is another important step in the execution of our strategy and enables us to focus our resources on higher-value opportunities across our international network.”HSBC Argentina is largely a domestically focused business, with limited connectivity to the rest of our international network.”Furthermore, given its size, it also generates substantial earnings volatility for the group when its results are translated into US dollars. Galicia is better placed to invest in and grow the business.”Related TopicsArgentinaHSBCBuenos AiresMore on this storyThe Argentines backing a ‘crazy’ president’s shock therapyPublished16 February’We’re the country of beef, but we can only afford chicken’Published30 JanuaryHow Argentina learned to love the US dollarPublished46 minutes agoTop StoriesMP targeted in Westminster honeytrap resigns party whipPublished1 hour agoAlan Bates says Post Office run by ‘thugs in suits’Published4 hours agoSecurity raised for Champions League ties after attack threatPublished1 hour agoFeaturesFirst ever climate change victory in Europe courtIsrael’s Gaza withdrawal hints at what comes nextSpectacular images of eclipse that transfixed North AmericaThe eclipse at Niagara Falls: ‘Wow! Spectacular’ VideoThe eclipse at Niagara Falls: ‘Wow! Spectacular’Listen: Flights, Cameron, Action – DC Meets Trump. 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[ad_1] The banking giant is set to take a billion-dollar loss by exiting Argentina after nearly 30 years.
![BBC HomepageSkip to contentAccessibility HelpYour accountLiveNotificationsHomeNewsSportWeatheriPlayerSoundsBitesizeMore menuMore menuSearch BBCHomeNewsSportWeatheriPlayerSoundsBitesizeCBBCCBeebiesFoodClose menuBBC NewsMenuHomeIsrael-Gaza warCost of LivingWar in UkraineClimateUKWorldBusinessPoliticsCultureMoreTechScienceHealthFamily & EducationIn PicturesNewsbeatBBC VerifyDisabilityWorldAfricaAsiaAustraliaEuropeLatin AmericaMiddle EastUS & CanadaSenegal President Macky Sall rejects blame for election chaosPublished46 minutes agoShareclose panelShare pageCopy linkAbout sharingThis video can not be playedTo play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser.Media caption, Senegal President Macky Sall: ‘I will not apologise because I did nothing wrong’By Waihiga Mwaura & Wedaeli ChibelushiBBC News, Dakar and LondonSenegal’s president has told the BBC he does not regret delaying this year’s elections, a move that sparked deadly protests.Macky Sall said he did not make the decision alone – he was responding to concerns raised by parliamentarians.After a violent backlash, many feared the relatively stable nation was slipping into political crisis.But the attempt to push the election back by 10 months was blocked by Senegal’s top court.The vote will now take place on Sunday – a month after it was initially due.”I have no apology to make, I have done nothing wrong,” President Sall told the BBC. “All the actions that have been taken have been within the framework of the law and regulations.” Live updates from across AfricaSenegal election crisis: ‘We feel betrayed by President Macky Sall’With just three weeks to go before the 25 February election, Mr Sall announced that it would be delayed, a move that was later approved by parliament.Critics accused Mr Sall of trying to stay on beyond his term of office, which the president denied. He argued that the delay was needed to resolve a dispute over the eligibility of presidential candidates.He says it was opposition politicians who raised these concerns.”If it had not been for the National Assembly which passed the law, which referred it to me, there would not have been the postponement of the election,” he said.Mr Sall’s announcement sparked violent clashes between police and protesters, in which three people died.Many feared that Senegal’s reputation as a bastion of democracy in an unstable region was on the line.Image source, AFPImage caption, The president’s plans to delay the election sparked widespread protestsSenegal has had three peaceful handovers of power since independence and is the only country in mainland West Africa that has not experienced a coup.Mr Sall told the BBC that the recent unrest “shows that there was an information campaign targeting Senegal and its president”, as there is “just one month” between the original election date and when the vote will now take place.He added: “I am truly surprised by the value judgements made about me. If I wanted to stay, I would simply be a candidate. In Africa, everyone can have five terms if they wanted. “If that had been my decision, no-one could have stopped me, except the Senegalese people who vote.”Last week, Senegal’s main opposition leader and one of Mr Sall’s fiercest critics Ousmane Sonko and his party’s presidential candidate Bassirou Diomaye Faye were released from prison under a presidential amnesty.Mr Sonko has been prosecuted on a series of charges, all of which he says were politically motivated as a way of excluding him from the election.Because of a conviction of immoral behaviour with a minor, he was barred from contesting and Mr Faye is standing in his place.Some leading opposition candidates were also excluded from the previous election in 2019.But President Sall denied that the charges against his rivals were politically motivated. “It is not because you are a politician that you should not answer for your actions before the law,” he said.He also said Mr Sonko, and others, would have been able to stand if the elections had been delayed for longer.”We would have had the possibility of having amnesty, which would have given them back a certain number of rights,” Mr Sall said.President Sall has served two terms in office – the maximum allowed by Senegal’s constitution.In his interview with the BBC, he repeated his pledge not to overstay.”If the next president is not elected on the 24th [March], I’m leaving on 2 April regardless. That is the deadline, and I don’t intend to stay on another day,” he said.Amadou Ba, who was Mr Sall’s prime minister until he stood down to campaign, and Mr Faye are seen as the favourites among the 19 candidates.If none of them gains more than 50% of the vote, there will be a second round.More on Senegal’s 2024 election:’If I were president’: Senegalese children organise own pollOusmane Sonko: Senegalese youth hero or rabble-rouser?Related TopicsMacky SallTop StoriesLive. Varadkar resigns as taoiseach for ‘personal and political’ reasonsFamine looms in Sudan as civil war survivors tell of killings and rapesPublished12 hours agoLive. Sunak and Starmer argue over economy and Rwanda plan at PMQsFeaturesBafta TV Awards: The list of nominationsHow Kate body-double conspiracy theory spread on social mediaI took three bullets to stop Princess Anne’s kidnap. 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![BBC HomepageSkip to contentAccessibility HelpYour accountLiveNotificationsHomeNewsSportWeatheriPlayerSoundsBitesizeMore menuMore menuSearch BBCHomeNewsSportWeatheriPlayerSoundsBitesizeCBBCCBeebiesFoodClose menuBBC NewsMenuHomeIsrael-Gaza warCost of LivingWar in UkraineClimateUKWorldBusinessPoliticsCultureMoreTechScienceHealthFamily & EducationIn PicturesNewsbeatBBC VerifyDisabilityBusinessMarket DataEconomyYour MoneyCompaniesTechnology of BusinessCEO SecretsArtificial IntelligenceCan the Panama Canal save itself?Published1 hour agoShareclose panelShare pageCopy linkAbout sharingImage source, Panama Canal AuthorityImage caption, Water levels of the Panama Canal are the second lowest they have been in 110 yearsBy Michelle FleuryNorth America Business correspondent, PanamaThe most famous waterway in the Americas is running dry.Unlike the Suez Canal, the Panama Canal is fed by a freshwater lake, Lake Gatún, and its water level is falling critically low. After a choppy boat ride across Lake Gatún, Nelson Guerra, the Panama Canal Authority’s hydrologist, points toward a rusted ruler beneath a tower on the western end of the water.”The level, as you see on the rulers, is 81.20ft,” he says. “The level should be five feet more than now.” On the return journey, the boat passes old tree stumps sticking out of the water. They were never fully cut down during the original construction of the lake. Normally, only a few would be visible at this time of year. But half way through the dry season, there’s a forest of them.Image caption, Nelson Guerra keeps a close eye on water levels in Lake GatúnThe Panama Canal is reliant on rainwater, which is in short supply.A lack of rain and the El Nino weather phenomenon have contributed to the second driest year in the canal’s 110-year history. Last October was the driest month since records began. The canal region saw 41% less rainfall than normal, and the drought threatens to continue disrupting the $270bn (£213bn) worth of cargo that flows through the Atlantic-Pacific shortcut annually. They’ve had to introduce water-saving measures, which has meant fewer ships can pass through the canal each day. This is because water from the lake is required to operate the canal’s locks. The number of vessels has been slashed from an average of 36 to 24. Each ship is also carrying less cargo now because of weight restrictions.The slowdown spells trouble for global trade. In normal times about 5% of global maritime trade uses the Atlantic-Pacific shortcut, and 40% of US container traffic. If the route runs dry, shippers will be forced to find alternatives – lengthening journey times and pushing up costs. And the lack of water is not just a problem for global trade. The Panama Canal Authority also supplies drinking water for half of the country’s population, including the residents of the capital, Panama City.But those who run the canal are taking steps to ensure it remains viable for another century, and beyond. The Panama Canal Authority’s first ever chief sustainability officer, Ilya Espino de Marotta, says they are working on finding solutions to ensure the canal does not run out of water.Image caption, Ilya Espino de Marotta is leading efforts to ensure the canal has enough water to operate”We don’t want this to be a recurrent issue. We don’t want to drop transits or tonnage,” she says.The authority has been busy developing a plan to invest $8.5bn in sustainability projects over the next five years that it hopes can help the vaunted waterway survive, even as changes rock the planet. Addressing the changing climate, Ilya Espino de Marotta says: “Panama is a very rainy country… but we see there’s a [reduced rainfall] pattern coming that is impacting everywhere. So we definitely need to prepare for the future.”One obvious measure involves water conservation.The Panama Canal works by transiting boats through a series of above-sea-level locks fed by Lake Gatún and the smaller Lake Alajuela.Each ship that passes through the locks uses around 50 million gallons of water, and a handful of new locks built in 2016 – the larger Neo-Panamax locks – save 60% of that water.However, the older Panamax locks remain in operation, and overhauling them would be a major project. In the meantime, the canal authority has found ways to reuse water from one lock chamber to another, so called cross-filling, saving the equivalent of six daily crossings.The authority is also considering building reservoirs, its first major project since it completed the new set of locks in 2016. To save more water in rainy months and increase supply in drier times, it wants to dam up the nearby Indio River, and pipe the fresh water into Lake Gatún, the canal’s main reservoir. The plan would increase vessel traffic by 12 to 15 a day. Moving forward won’t be easy though. The project doesn’t have congressional approval yet, and construction will take several years to complete.Another option is to build desalination plants. The lack of rain has increased the salinity of the lakes and rivers, a challenge that has to be managed given it’s the country’s biggest source of potable water. But that option is costly and removing salt from seawater requires a huge amount of energy. Even seeding clouds in the hopes of creating more rain isn’t off the table. The process of implanting large salt particles into clouds to boost rainfall sounds futuristic, but has been around since the 1940s.A solution needs to be found lest global trade, which has become more unstable this year, gets even more so. Trade volumes through the Panama Canal have fallen 49% compared to its peak. José Cervantes, a general manager at the Panama branch of shipping company Agunsa, says their daily operations have been hit. Shipments of two million tons of goods from textiles to food have been delayed because of the disruptions at the Panama Canal.He says the problem is that there are no other good shortcuts. Image caption, José Cervantes’ company had to switch cargo to road and rail alternativesSome ships carrying cargo from Asia were rerouted through the Suez Canal, before the current Red Sea crisis. With that option less secure, there’s been an increase in demand for rail and road transport across Panama.But José Cervantes says all that unloading and reloading of cargo from ships onto trains and trucks is pushing up costs. “And those costs are usually passed onto the consumer,” he says.If rains arrive in May as expected, the canal plans to increase the number of ships that can pass through its locks, but that is only a short term solution.Changing rainfall patterns, serve as a reminder of the major impact climate change could have on global trade and on the long term future of the Panama Canal.For more on this topic, listen to Business Daily: Disruption and drought in the Panama Canal on BBC Sounds.Related TopicsPanamaPanama canalTop StoriesHunt expected to cut National Insurance tax by 2pPublished2 hours agoLive. 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![BBC HomepageSkip to contentAccessibility HelpYour accountLiveNotificationsHomeNewsSportWeatheriPlayerSoundsBitesizeMore menuMore menuSearch BBCHomeNewsSportWeatheriPlayerSoundsBitesizeCBBCCBeebiesFoodClose menuBBC NewsMenuHomeIsrael-Gaza warCost of LivingWar in UkraineClimateUKWorldBusinessPoliticsCultureMoreTechScienceHealthFamily & EducationIn PicturesNewsbeatBBC VerifyDisabilityWorldAfricaAsiaAustraliaEuropeLatin AmericaMiddle EastUS & CanadaSenegal on the brink after elections postponedPublished1 hour agoShareclose panelShare pageCopy linkAbout sharingThis video can not be playedTo play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser.Media caption, ‘We deserve freedom’: Delayed election sparks protests, arrests in SenegalBy Yusuf AkinpeluBBC News, LagosSenegal’s reputation as a bastion of democracy in an unstable region is on the line as protesters clash with police outside the National Assembly.Inside, lawmakers have passed a contentious bill to extend President Macky Sall’s tenure and delay elections after he called off a planned election with just three weeks to go.Khalifa Sall, a leading opponent and a former mayor of Dakar, who is not related to the president, called the delay a “constitutional coup” and urged people to protest against it. His political coalition has vowed to go to court.Thierno Alassane Sall, another candidate, also no relation, called it “high treason” and urged his supporters to gather in front of the National Assembly to protest and “remind MPs to stand on the right side of history”.The proposal needed the support of three-fifths (i.e. 99) of the 165 deputies to pass. The ruling Benno Bokk Yakaar coalition, of which President Sall’s Alliance for the Republic party is part, has a slight majority in parliament.There was a heated atmosphere in the chamber, and it was reported that some opposition MPs had been removed by security forces after they tried to block proceedings.In the end 105 MPs voted for the proposal. A six-month postponement was originally proposed, but a last-minute amendment extended it to 10 months, or 15 December.Mr Sall reiterated that he was not planning to run for office again. But his critics accuse him of either trying to cling on to power or unfairly influencing whoever succeeds him. No sooner had he announced the unprecedented postponement than protesters marched across the capital, Dakar, to call for a reversal. Image source, ReutersImage caption, President Sall has delayed the general elections in Senegal by six monthsSenegal has long been seen as one of the most stable democracies in West Africa. It is the only country in mainland West Africa that has never had a military coup. It has had three largely peaceful handovers of power and never delayed a presidential election. Until now.In 2017, Senegalese troops led the West African mission sent to neighbouring The Gambia to force out long-time ruler Yahya Jammeh after he refused to accept he had lost an election. And in a region beset by coups, President Sall has been a key actor in the push by the Economic Community of West African States (Ecowas) to force military leaders to conduct elections and hand over power to civilians. But Senegal’s democratic credentials now hang in the balance, and a constitutional crisis is brewing. The country faces a critical test of its electoral integrity and judicial independence, analysts say.Tensions have been rising for more than two years following what the opposition say was a deliberate attempt to exclude them from the election by having their candidates charged with crimes they had not committed. One major opposition party was even banned.The authorities have denied using the legal system for political gain and President Sall said he was trying to calm things down by delaying the vote but this does not appear to have worked so far.”The decision has thrown Senegal into uncharted waters of a constitutional crisis,” Mucahid Durmaz, senior West Africa analyst at risk intelligence company Verisk Maplecroft, tells the BBC.”The constitution requires elections to be organised at least 30 days before the end of the incumbent president’s mandate. Sall’s rule expires on 2 April. And the decree detailing the electoral calendar must be released 80 days before the vote takes place. Even if he appoints a transitional president after 2 April, the legality of it will be disputed.”Authorities restricted access to mobile internet services on Monday to prevent what they called “hateful and subversive messages” from spreading online and posing a threat to public order – in other words to make it harder for protesters to organise.Image source, ReutersImage caption, Protests erupted across Senegal over the weekendSome residents tell the BBC they have been using wifi and Virtual Private Networks (VPN’s) to bypass the curbs but not everyone is able to do this.The opposition has condemned the shutdown of the signal of private television channel Walf TV for “incitement to violence” over its coverage of the demonstrations.Two opposition politicians, including former Prime Minister Aminata Touré, once a close ally of President Sall but now one of his harshest critics, were both briefly detained following the protests.Critics fear that this clampdown could plunge the country into further political turmoil which, by extension, could be dangerous for the whole West African region.Satisfaction with democracy in Senegal has declined sharply under Mr Sall. In 2013 Afrobarometer, a pollster, found that after Mr Sall had taken office, more than two-thirds of Senegalese people were fairly or very satisfied with democracy. By 2022 less than half were.However, Durmaz says he does not foresee the possibility of a military coup because Senegal has a “diverse range of political parties, a robust civil society and influential religious leaders who step in to mediate political disputes between the politicians”.Twenty candidates had made the final list to contest the elections, but several more were excluded by the Constitutional Council, the judicial body that determines whether candidates have met the conditions required to run. Prominent among them were firebrand opposition leader Ousmane Sonko barred because of a libel conviction, and Karim Wade, the son of a former president, who was accused of having French nationality. They both say the cases against them are politically motivated.Despite the delay, it is unlikely Mr Sonko will be able to participate in the election, as his party has already replaced him with Bassirou Faye who is also in jail but remains eligible to run, Mr Durmaz says. Mr Sonko has shown that he is able to mobilise his supporters on to the streets and so while he remains barred, tensions are likely to stay high.His banned Pastef party has vowed to push back against the delay, calling it a “serious threat to our democracy” and “contempt for the will of the people”.This is not the first time leading opposition candidates have been barred from running in presidential elections. Both Karim Wade and Khalifa Sall were jailed for corruption in 2015 and 2018 respectively, and barred from running in 2019.This time, allegations of judicial corruption involving the Constitutional Council, brought by Karim Wade’s party, prompted a parliamentary inquiry.President Sall justified the election delay by saying time was needed to resolve the dispute that ensued between the Council and some members of parliament.Despite the widespread anger over the delay, Mr Wade’s Senegalese Democratic Party (PDS) has backed it, and if its MPs vote with the government, the bill could pass.But Wole Ojewale, Dakar-based regional co-ordinator for Central Africa at the Institute for Security Studies, says the delay is not justified.”The president is not in charge of the electoral process, and to the extent to which the electoral umpire has not raised doubts about their capacity to undertake the election. I don’t think anything should derail the political process.”Mr Sall’s critics suggest he may have feared his chosen successor, Prime Minister Amadou Ba, was in danger of losing the election.”His [President Sall’s] party is losing momentum. There are indications that they probably want to see how they can rejig, or probably replace their candidate,” Ojewale says.He says there is still a window to conduct the election as scheduled. Otherwise, the country may be plunged into widespread unrest, becoming a police state where civil liberties are eroded, a view Durmaz shares.Ecowas and the African Union have called for dialogue. France, the US and the EU have all called for an election as soon as possible. However, Durmaz says President Sall’s international image would minimise any external pressure on him.”I do not expect a firm push by Ecowas to reverse the postponement of the election in Senegal,” he says, noting that the credibility of regional organisations such as Ecowas and the AU “has been significantly tarnished due to their inability to confront the democratic deficit in civilian-run countries”.All eyes will now be on the regional blocs to see how they treat yet another democratic headache in West Africa.You may also be interested in:Ousmane Sonko – youth hero or rabble-rouser?Why young Africans are celebrating military takeoversWhy coups don’t spell democracy’s end in AfricaWhy does France have military bases in Africa?Related TopicsSenegalMore on this storyElection delay sparks protests, arrests in Senegal. 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