Barclays Capital is planning a big push across all areas of investment banking in Latin America in the coming months, buoyed up by its acquisition of Lehman Brothers. "In the past we have been focused on the fixed-income business in the region but it has been challenging getting a substantial presence in Brazil. But now that should change dramatically," says Carlos Mauleon, head of Latin American debt capital markets and investment banking at Barclays Capital. "With the Lehman acquisition we have gained a whole new strategic angle with M&A and equity capabilities. This will help us leverage the corporate sector business significantly. That is our mission for the next year."
To add momentum to its push into equities Barclays hired five analysts for its Latin American equity research team in June. Felipe Mattar and Sergio Conti, formerly of Citi, were hired to cover utilities and oil. Michel Morin, who was at Merrill Lynch, will cover telecoms and media companies. Henrique Caldeira and Leonardo Correa, who were hired from Credit Suisse, will follow non-bank financials, and metals and mining, respectively.
Solid franchise
The new analysts will work under Roberto Attuch, who became head of equity research for Latin America in March after leaving Credit Suisse.