Some of the debentures issued by BCP have ended up in the hands of investment funds managed by Safra, which owns 44.5% of the B-band cellular operator in metropolitan São Paulo and the Northeast. BellSouth, the other controlling shareholder, is holding out for debt default by BCP. This would doubly jeopardize Safra, ruining its credibility with both BCP?s creditors, led by ABN-Amro, and investors in its own funds. In the United States, meanwhile, stock in BellSouth?s fixed-line operations recently jumped 6.25% in five days. The Dow Jones fell 2.5% during the same period. CEO Duane Ackerman is using his frequent media appearances to explain the company?s situation. BellSouth faces serious problems in the U.S. and Europe but Mr Ackerman tends to focus on losses in Latin America, claiming that currency depreciation in the region has cost the group 354 million US Dollars. It?s hard to put the group?s Latin American operations in order, BellSouth Spokesman Jeff Battcher told the local press, blaming political problems, falling incomes and recession.
Crisis
