Brazilian banks are making it harder for farmers to borrow money, after a surge in agricultural bankruptcies left lenders with limited prospects for recovering billions in debt.
Among the banks’ new demands are stronger collateral requirements that allow them to seize assets even during debt restructurings, unlike traditional liens used in the past.
Loans are getting harder to come by because Brazilian farmers have been seeking bankruptcy protection at a record pace, with almost 2,000 filings in the sector last year, according to credit bureau Serasa Experian. That’s up more than 10-fold since 2021, as growers used the courts to ...