Latin American investment banking: What’s the price of success?

On Wall Street the backstabbing has started, and with good reason – bonus season has arrived. While Latin American bankers watched their counterparts in the structured finance world write down billions of dollars in losses, they, by contrast, quietly brought in good profits.

Profits doubled at Merrill Lynch’s Latin American business. JPMorgan expanded its operations rapidly, with high-profile clients at the forefront of its growth. Regional heavyweights UBS and Credit Suisse continued to perform well, driven by the Brazilian IPO boom, and Citi’s Latin American operation grew by about 60%.

But as Merrill Lynch, Citi and UBS continue to announce large write-downs on their credit businesses, their competitors are left wondering what level of compensation these banks can afford to pay.

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