Latin Finance - January/February 2012 - 6

People

More Bank Cuts
Troubles at European ﬁnancial institutions have started to spill over to their LatAm operations, resulting in a series of layo s at several banks late last year. The Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS), for one, moved to shed more sta in November at its US o ces, in yet another sign that the bank is stepping back from its LatAm business. Both DCM and credit traders dedicated to the region were heard being let go or reshu ed into other areas such as FX or rates, leaving what one described as “very small teams.” This came just weeks after the British bank said it was cutting 30 positions in Brazil, including the head of investment banking operations in Brazil, Carlos Braga. Similarly, ING has announced sta reductions across its LatAm trading, research and DCM groups as the bank moves to comply with Basel III rules and set aside money for capital requirements. Approximately 20 employees were heard being let go in New York and Mexico City. Spain’s Santander was also heard undergoing a similar restructuring with the laying o of some 15 people in the New York o ces in December, including Marcia Vorona, an executive director in the structured ﬁnance group, who moved to the bank from ABN Amro in late 2008 after an RBS-led consortium took over the Dutch bank. In Mexico, Ricardo Cano was set to leave his position as BBVA Bancomer’s credit market head at the beginning of the new year. The Mexican bank was expected to replace him with Antonio Castaño, ex-UBS banker and current director general of state development bank Naﬁnsa. Castaño was hired by Naﬁn in early 2009 after working at UBS as an executive director in the LatAm DCM team, and before that, as deputy general director of public credit in Mexico. At Itaú, Ramiro González-Prandi has been named Colombia country manager after the Brazilian bank received approval to operate a wholesale and investment banking unit in the country. Global corporate and investment banking director for Itaú Chile since 2007, he is replaced there by Christian Tauber, who was in charge of corporate banking and corporate ﬁnance. Cristián Bulnes has made the move from Banco Penta, where he was CFO, to MBA Lazard, where he joins investment banking co-head Andres Sommer as a managing director and co-head of Chile investment banking. Roberto Guzmán has been hired as Scotia Capital’s director

of debt capital markets, Mexico. He previously worked as director of structured ﬁnance at Fitch Ratings and reports to Vinicio Alvarez, managing director, debt capital markets Mexico.

Kirchner Names New Economy Minister

Argentina’s President Cristina Kirchner named ﬁnance secretary Hernán Lorenzino as economy minister for her second term. He replaces Amado Boudou, who becomes her vice president. Adrian Cosentino has been named as ﬁnance secretary to replace Lorenzino, moving up from his position as sub-secretary. Rodrigo Vergara has been named governor of Chile’s central bank for a ﬁve-year term, replacing outgoing head José De Gregorio. Vergara, already a board member, had long been thought to be the most likely successor. Meanwhile, Pedro Delgado has become the new central bank president in Ecuador. The change comes as part of a cabinet shu e, in which Jeannette Sanchez moves into the post of minister of economic policy coordination. Jan Weiss has taken a position as a lead syndication o cer at the InterAmerican Development Bank, focusing on infrastructure. Weiss comes from WestLB, where she worked in the structured ﬁnance group. She replaces Brian Blakely, who moved to originations.

Vale Swaps CFOs

Vale named Tito Martins as CFO, replacing Guilherme Cavalcante, who had been in the position since 2010. The move came as part of the shakeup following the ousting of CEO Roger Agnelli earlier in 2011. Esteban Calle left Canadian ﬁnancial group BMO in Toronto to take over as CEO of Colombian utility Empresas Públicas de Medellín (EPM), where he replaces Federico Restrepo. Gabriel Blasi stepped down as CFO of Argentine real-estate company IRSA, according to a source familiar with the matter. He will move to a similar position at Banco Hipotecario, part of the IRSA group. Matias Gaivironsky replaces Blasi as CFO. Brazilian airline Webjet, which was bought by Gol earlier this year, saw CEO Fábio Godinho step down late last year. He is replaced by vice president of operations Julio Perotti. Jorge Sanchez has been named CFO of Mexican pharmacy chain and distributor Grupo Saba. He replaces Pedro Alejandro Sadurni.LF

UPDATE
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6 LATINFINANCE

January/February 2012

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Latin Finance - January/February 2012

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Latin Finance - January/February 2012