Latin Finance - July/August 2009 - 4

People CCB Eyes LatAm China Construction Bank (CCB) is assessing the potential in Latin America as a possible second phase of its Americas buildout, raising the prospect of substantial fresh capital ﬂows to the region. Though no decision has yet been made on coverage of the region it appears a likely eventual next step, starting with Brazil. “Head o ce is in the process of evaluating the LatAm strategy and undergoing a feasibility study,” John Weinshank, CCB’s New York branch head of trade ﬁnance and corporate banking, tells LatinFinance. Weinshank would not be drawn on how much balance sheet will be deployed in the Americas, speciﬁc plans for setting up LatAm o ces, or how the bank would operate in the region. “For the ﬁrst year we plan to be modest and conservative,” says the former SMBC structured trade commodity ﬁnance banker, who was appointed in March, has LatAm experience and speaks Spanish. “I would encourage Latin American companies to begin the conversations with us now,” says Weinshank. “It’s important to gain mutual understanding between China and the Latin American region.” State-owned CCB has had a two-person New York rep o ce for about 12 years. Earlier this year, CCB got a US banking license and expects to employ 20-30 people by the end of 2009. The New York branch appears geared towards tapping into the growing ﬂow of raw materials to China from LatAm, much of which is being processed into ﬁnished goods sold to the US. Weinshank stresses the need to build gradually. “The view is not quarter to quarter . . . we look at things long term,” says the banker. CCB is among the world’s largest ﬁnancial institutions, with a market capitalization of $150 billion and some $1.3 trillion in assets at the end of the ﬁrst quarter. The ﬂow is not one-way, however, with economist Boris Segura joining from Morgan Stanley. Segura will be senior economist, focused on Central America and the Caribbean. Origination capabilities are expected to follow for CentAm and Caribbean, which since Bear’s demise is only really covered by JPMorgan. At Bank of America-Merrill Lynch, former Mexico head Alberto Ardura has jumped to the LatAm DCM team at Deutsche Bank. He is reunited with derivatives trading rainmaker Karan Madan, who quit Merrill in April to become the German shop’s new head of LatAm debt. Also in Mexico, Morgan Stanley appointed former Merrill director Patrick Cassereau as head of ﬁxed-income derivatives. In Brazil, Adriano Borges, Merrill’s head of banking for real estate, is joining Itaú BBA as a senior coverage banker. The move puts a crack in the foundations of Bank of America-Merrill Lynch’s Brazil business, which, unlike other LatAm o ces, had been unscathed by defections. Finally, Daniel González, Merrill’s country head for Argentina, Chile, Peru and Uruguay also plans to leave the bank to pursue other opportunities. The veteran banker, who has been with Merrill 13 years, will depart after spending the next few months working as a senior advisor to the merged entity. BTG Pactual, the Brazilian banking, trading and asset manager led by André Esteves, has poached seven investment bankers from Credit Suisse’s São Paulo o ce. The group includes M&A bankers Marco Gonçalves and Jo re Salies. BTG, which bought UBS’s Brazil assets for $2.5 billion, is on an aggressive hiring streak, say local bankers and recruiters. It was also hammering out partnership agreements with senior UBS Pactual executives looking to join Esteves’ ﬁrm. Standard Bank’s Brazilian unit is also in expansion mode, hiring three Goldman Sachs bankers for a new M&A team. Pedro Marcílio, a senior VP at Goldman will be a managing director in charge of the regional M&A e ort, reporting to Eduardo Centola, head of the Americas who joined from Goldman earlier this year. Cristina Bueno, also from Goldman, will be a VP reporting to Marcilio. São Paulo-based senior investment banker Marcelo Naigeborin has returned to Morgan Stanley, whose Brazil presence he helped construct in the 1990s. He will provide general coverage of Brazilian clients, assisting with M&A, among other things. Naigeborin left Itaú in February, where he was an MD in charge of investment banking for various service and industrial sectors in Brazil. LF BTG Plunders Credit Suisse BofA Merrill, RBS Leaking The drain continues from banks whose commitment to Latin America has been questioned following mergers, government support and fallout from the credit crisis. A team of former ABN AMRO bankers led by Pablo Venturino, has resigned from Royal Bank of Scotland in the face of deteriorating institutional backing for a DCM and syndicated loans business, as well as a move to Stamford. The departed include DCM managing director Carlos Vargas and directors David Pinto and Orlando Alvarado, and Boris Espinoza, director of loans. Some are expected to resurface in coming months as members of a new platform. Separately, Paula Fontenla, former head of LatAm client coverage at ABN, went to Deutsche Bank to build a new group focused on residential mortgage-backed securities in the region. 4 LATINFINANCE July/August 2009 UPDATE For daily news of personnel changes, see www.latinﬁnance.com >

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Latin Finance - July/August 2009

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