Latin American market access - opportunities: whitepaper

The case for a more standardised post-trade model across Latin American markets.

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Foreign investor interest in Latin America is growing, but operational fragmentation continues to constrain access and scale. This whitepaper examines the barriers limiting investment flows, the cost of regional variance and how harmonisation could improve market access and efficiency.

LatAm growth appetite

Growth

A progress bar showing 84% increasing LatAm exposure.

The appetite is clear — but operational friction is limiting how far that interest can translate into actual flows.

The majority of LatAm firms anticipate growth in the near term, suggesting the opportunity is immediate rather than aspirational.

Cost blocks investment

Cost

For nearly half of firms, this variance is not just a source of friction — it is actively constraining investment volumes.

A more harmonised regional operating model would reduce barriers for existing investors and open the market to new entrants.

Harmonisation savings potential

Efficiency

A figure card showing 11% expected savings from regional harmonisation.

The benefit is strongest in securities lending, where almost half of respondents expect savings of 10% or more.

Savings at this scale would directly improve the economics of investing into the region.

Latin America presents a clear growth opportunity for global investors, but operational friction continues to limit how far that opportunity can scale. Fragmented market structures, high settlement failure rates and inconsistent post-trade processes are creating avoidable cost and constraining investment flows.

What is holding back foreign investment into Latin American markets? How much could a more harmonised regional post-trade model improve market access, efficiency and growth?

The whitepaper examines the role a new regional operating model could play in supporting greater investment into Latin America. It looks at investor appetite, the operational barriers created by market fragmentation and the potential savings from more standardised post-trade infrastructure and processes.

The research, produced in partnership with Nasdaq, highlights:

84% are looking to increase investment in the region, with many focused on near-term expansion
70% identify high costs as a blocker: regional variance in processes and platforms is limiting scale and, for some firms, preventing investment altogether
Respondents expect average savings of 11% across operational activities through greater regional harmonisation

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