On September 29, the United States announced sanctions targeting 21 individuals and 25 companies tied to the Sinaloa Cartel. A separate Treasury action on October 1 could widen financial screening for Latin American banks, remittance firms and dollar-clearing desks. No Latin American institution appeared on the A7 notice, but the proposed restrictions cover transfers involving its sub-agents.
Financial Gatekeeping
The October 1 action paired a proposed Financial Crimes Enforcement Network rule barring fund transfers involving A7 sub-agents with an alert to financial institutions. The Office of Foreign Assets Control designated A7 a significant transnational criminal organisation.
FinCEN found that A7 sub-agents processed more than US$17 billion from January 2025 to June 2026. Treasury said A7 claims more than 2,000 transactions a day and historic volume exceeding 7.5 trillion roubles, about US$91.5 billion. A7 says it handled about 13% of Russia’s foreign-trade transactions in 2025. Treasury linked the network to Iranian oil sales and weapons procurement.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the department was “dismantling financial infrastructure that adversaries use to evade sanctions” and that facilitators “would lose access to the U.S. financial system.” The measures use access to dollar-linked finance as an enforcement tool. The briefing said wider screening could affect regional institutions’ transfers, though it named no Latin American bank or remittance company facing designation.
The September 29 sanctions targeted Mexico through individuals and companies tied to the Sinaloa Cartel. The reports provide no figures for frozen financial assets, business revenues or costs the sanctions may impose on workers and communities.
Borrowing Costs Pass Through
The U.S. 10-year Treasury yield touched about 5.34% on October 1, its highest since April 2002, then closed near 5.24%. EODHD data put the close at 5.242%, compared with 5.291% on Wednesday. This benchmark affects mortgage rates and emerging-market funding costs, including credit spreads for Brazil, Mexico and Colombia and dollar issuers from Chile to the Caribbean.
The global briefing reported gold rose 0.63% to US$4,182 an ounce as the dollar index climbed to 102.014, describing the combination as demand for dollar liquidity and gold hedges. It also said the 10-year yield affects borrowing costs and Latin American credit spreads. The briefing didn’t identify a specific borrower or quantify any increase in debt payments.
The Institute for Supply Management reported its U.S. manufacturing prices index rose to 77.9 in September from 71.1 in August, above a forecast of 72.3. The headline manufacturing index came in at 54.5, below the 55.0 forecast; new orders reached 55.3 and employment 52.7. A separate U.S. intelligence brief cited a forecast of 3.7% annual inflation on October 14, compared with 3.4% previously, and said the figures made a rapid decline in yields harder to expect.
Workers and the Market Calendar
The U.S. September jobs report was scheduled for October 2 at 13:30 Lisbon time. EODHD forecast 90,000 new jobs, down from 162,000 in August, with unemployment at 4.1% and average hourly earnings rising 0.3% month on month. Private payrolls were forecast at 85,000 against 127,000 previously, while manufacturing payrolls were forecast at 10,000 against 16,000.
The briefing said weaker employment data could ease the dollar and pressure on the Brazilian real; stronger data could lift the dollar before Brazil’s presidential election, which it identified as a key risk factor for Latin American markets. Workers’ wages and hiring appeared in the release forecasts, but the reports described no union response, strike or labor proposal.
The global market table listed the Ibovespa at 187,197, up 0.46%, and USD/BRL at 5.2176, up 0.84%, citing October 1 close figures. Brazil’s August industrial production was forecast at 0.1% month on month and 0.3% year on year; September IPC-Fipe inflation was forecast at 0.3%. No new Canada–Latin America agreement was announced in the reports reviewed; Canada already has a free-trade agreement with Colombia.