| LATIN AMERICA |
| Best Bank: BBVA |
| Best Investment Bank: JPMorgan |
| Best Debt House: HSBC |
| Best Equity House: Credit Suisse |
| Best M&A House: JPMorgan |
| Best at Project Finance: Santander |
| Best at Cash Management: Citi |
The banking industry in Latin America is in a state of flux. As the credit crunch took hold a series of mergers and acquisitions led to new competitors rising up the food chain, while old names quietly shrank their operations and laid off staff.
It began in September 2008. Lehman Brothers collapsed and within weeks the vultures landed on its old operations in Brazil. BTG, the new investment firm set up by André Esteves, a former partner at Pactual, bought the unit at a distressed price, stripped down what he wanted for his new firm and then sold the buildings and unwanted staff to Standard Chartered.