Latin Finance - May 2008 - 49

awards for 20 years of excellence City (2002), Monterrey (2003) and Santiago (2007). It continues to expand, with plans to open offices in Bogotá and Lima in 2008. It is a well established power in ECM, DCM and M&A. But Credit Suisse lost talent in the recent post-bonus shuffle and faces much tougher markets, both in operating environment and strength of competitors. It remains to be seen how firm its grip remains on these markets as the rest of the sell side advances. The shop’s head of Brazil investment banking José Olympio meanwhile takes the sell-side LatinFinancier award. (See interview, page 51.) He started in 1985 as a research analyst at Banco Garantia, whose corporate finance business he established in 1992. Olympio moved to Citi in 2001 as head of investment banking in Brazil and was co-head for all LatAm by 2003. His glory year was 2007, when Credit Suisse appeared to own the Brazil equity boom, a windfall in underwriting fees. In the Equity Deal category, Bovespa Holding’s 2007 IPO is the clear winner. The fifth largest IPO globally last year and the most substantial to date from any exchange was an exercise in brand creation and public relations that demanded flawless execution from start to finish. Particular skill was required from the stock exchange’s top executives and bankers hired to transform a complex partnership of dozens of broker dealers into a publicly traded single share class entity. A relatively recent transaction also won M&A Deal. Vale’s 2006 purchase of Canada’s Inco for $18 billion was a regiontransforming event. For sheer size and audacity, as well as lasting value for Vale shareholders, the blowout transaction is not just the biggest acquisition so far – it is also the best. In the LatinFinancier Issuer category, we pick Roger Agnelli, Vale’s CEO, for driving the process and keeping Vale on top. years. Walker is credited with having forged restructuring techniques that have become models for the management of international debt crises. He helped design Brady Bonds, debt swap programs and the first collective action clause in sovereign bonds issued under US law, as well as leading major privatizations and project financings. The LatAm Uber-Investor On the Buyside, we congratulate Mohamed El-Erian, a longstanding advocate of emerging markets. (See column, page 53.) In a distinguished career that has included stints at Citi, the IMF, running Harvard’s endowment, and now co-CEO of Pimco, the biggest bond fund in the world, ElErian has been a straight shooting defender of the asset class. As one of the biggest buyers of sovereign bonds in the first half of this decade, El-Erian established a reputation for cracking the whip to encourage issuers and investors to grow up and adopt practices more akin to developed markets. Issuers feared getting on the wrong side of him, bankers loathed his intrusion, while traders and competing investors said he was just too outspoken and that his actions distorted prices. The mere whisper of ElErian shunning a sovereign financing invariably left it drowning in the aftermarket. But the debate he started helped propel LatAm from untamed fixed income backwater to a mainstay of international portfolios. El-Erian also highlighted glaring inefficiencies in the IMF management structure through a maverick bid to lead the institution in 2004. He sits atop one of the largest specialty fixed income managers in the world – with $746.3 billion in assets under management as of December 2007 – and is a LatinFinancier par excellence. In the lifetime achievement category, William Rhodes rightly takes the laurels for his outstanding contributions and continued sponsorship of Latin America. (See interview, page 53.) Half a century in banking, Rhodes made his name in LatAm, a region that continues to captivate him. But far from resting on the laurels of a highly distinguished career, he remains as hands on, relevant and forward looking as ever. LF Sell side LatinFinancier: José Olympio The first international securitization by a Brazilian bank opened the gates to other successful deals that continue to be replicated. And for Debt Deal, we went right back to the creation of Brady Bonds for the region’s most innovative transaction. (See interview, page 60.) The deal continues to have relevance – some investors say that a similar plan might work to fix the subprime crisis in the US. For retail bank, Banco Itaú sweeps the board. (See interview, page 52.) Brazil’s largest, most profitable and most ubiquitous private sector financial institution to lead the pack with rises in assets and net equity. It remains in growth mode and is building up an international investment banking platform. Bankers in the region take it as the model to follow for domestic retail institutions. Best Law Firm is Cleary Gottlieb, which has kept up with increasing sophistication in the client base over the last 50 years, says senior counsel Roger Thomas. (See interview, page 50.) It was involved in developing Brady Bonds for Mexico as well as many landmark restructurings, debt, equity and M&A transactions. It has represented Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Dominica, Ecuador, Grenada, Mexico, Nicaragua, Peru and Uruguay. For LatinFinancier on the attorney side, we pick Cleary Gottlieb’s Mark Walker, a key player in LatAm for more than 30 Structured Leader LatinFinance went back to 2001 for its Structured Finance Deal, the Nikkei Remittance Trust transaction through Merrill Lynch. Banco do Brasil’s $250 million three-year average/five-year final securitization of worker remittances from Japan was at least three years in the making and sets a trend for that market. May 2008 LATINFINANCE 49

Latin Finance - May 2008

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Latin Finance - May 2008