Latin America banking: Risk pendulum swings back to locals

by Rob Dwyer

Illustration: Kevin February

When UBS’s global banks strategist and Latin America financials analyst, Philip Finch, listened to HSBC chief executive Stuart Gulliver’s comments after disappointing 2014 fourth quarter results on February 23 this year, he realized just how far the risk equation for global banks had shifted. 

A decade previously, he had been involved with writing reports about how global banks were well-positioned to enter new emerging market banking markets and leverage their global platforms, scale economies and IT capabilities at the expense of the locals.