SECURITIES
AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington,
D.C. 20549
FORM
6-K
Report
of
Foreign Private Issuer
Pursuant
to Rule 13a-16 Or 15d-16 Of The
Securities
Exchange Act of 1934
For
the
month of December of 2007
BANCO
LATINOAMERICANO DE EXPORTACIONES, S.A.
(Exact
name of Registrant as specified in its Charter)
LATIN
AMERICAN EXPORT BANK
(Translation
of Registrant’s name into English)
Calle
50
y Aquilino de la Guardia
P.O.
Box
0819-08730
El
Dorado, Panama City
Republic
of Panama
(Address
of Registrant’s Principal Executive Offices)
(Indicate
by check mark whether the registrant files or will file annual reports under
cover of Form 20-F or Form 40-F.)
Form
20-F
x
Form
40-F
o
(Indicate
by check mark whether the registrant by furnishing the information contained
in
this Form is also thereby furnishing information to the Commission pursuant
to
Rule 12g-3-2(b) under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.)
Yes o
No
x
(If
“Yes”
is marked, indicate below the file number assigned to the registrant in
connection with Rule 12g3-2(b). 82__.)
SIGNATURES
Pursuant
to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant
has
duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereto
duly authorized.
December
21, 2007
| Banco Latinoamericano de Exportaciones, S.A. | ||
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| By: /s/ Pedro Toll | ||
|
Name: Pedro Toll |
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| Title: Deputy Manager | ||
FOR
IMMEDIATE RELEASE
BLADEX’S
RATINGS UPGRADED TO “Baa2” BY MOODY’S
Panama
City, Republic of Panama, December 21, 2007 - Banco Latinoamericano de
Exportaciones, S.A. (“Bladex” or “the Bank”) (NYSE: BLX), announced today that
Moody’s Investor Services has upgraded the Company’s long term foreign currency
deposit, debt, and issuer ratings to Baa2 from Baa3 and raised the Bank’s
financial strength rating to C- from D+.
A
press
release distributed earlier this week by Moody’s stated that this decision
“reflects the Bank’s track record of increasing core profitability, earnings
diversification, and improving asset quality, as well as management’s strategy
to broaden the Bank’s trade finance and securities businesses in the
Region.”
Jaime
Rivera, Chief Executive Officer of Bladex, stated, “This upgrade testifies to
the strength of the Bank’s business model and franchise, as well as its ability
to continue executing on all aspects of its strategy.”
Bladex
is
a supranational bank originally established by the Central Banks of Latin
America and Caribbean countries to promote trade finance in the Region. Based
in
Panama, its shareholders include central and state-owned entities in 23
countries of the Region, as well as Latin American and international commercial
banks and institutional and retail investors.
For
further information, please access our web site on the Internet at www.blx.com
or
contact:
|
Bladex,
Head Office, Calle 50 y Aquilino de la Guardia, Panama, Republic
of
Panama
Attention:
Carlos Yap S., Senior Vice President - Finance
Tel.:
(507) 210-8563, E-mail: cyap@blx.com
-or-
i-advize
Corporate Communications, Inc., 82 Wall Street, Suite 805,
New
York, NY 10005
Attention:
Melanie Carpenter or Peter Majeski
Tel.:
(212) 406-3690, E-mail:
bladex@i-advize.com
|