IS SÃO PAULO supplanting New York as the Latin American equity market of choice? Of the top 20 Latin American IPOs of 2006, only one – Argentine steel maker Ternium's – came with a listing in New York. Fifteen of the top 20 IPOs were Brazilian, and not one of them saw fit to pursue a dual listing. Meanwhile, average daily volume on Bovespa, Brazil’s stock exchange, soared 68% to $1.12 billion in 2006 from $667 million in 2005. Foreign participation on Bovespa continued to rise, even as various US grandees belly-ached in public about signs that New York was losing its status as a global financial centre.
The story, though, is far from clear. It turns out that the activity in New York was, in many ways, even stronger than that in São Paulo. The 96 US-listed American depositary receipts had a total trading...
