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The intensifying competition among custodian banks and the changing focus on individualized customer service trigger a corresponding change in the practice of custodian bankers. Consultants have to become proxy voters, messengers, consultants and lobbyists to cope with emerging markets and new securities regulations. In addition, they have to keep up with competition for managed assets which already amounts to $40 trillion with Chase Manhattan being the largest custodian of assets worth $4.7 trillion. A day in the life of four custodians is described.

Shell Oil Co and minority partner Mobil Corp's contract with the Peruvian government to develop the Camisea natural gas operation came to a halt when the companies opted to abandon the operations on Jul 16, 1998. The move was blamed on Peru's reluctance to grant flexible, investment conditions which other governments chasing for capital would have offered. To salvage some of its $450-million investment, Shell is back at the negotiating table for concessions.

The privatization of Brazil's Telecomunicaoes Brasileiras SA was conceptualized with two objectives, namely, competitive pricing and rapid universal phone ownership. This would allow virtually no respite from competition for companies that won in the auction beginning with management consolidation, technology update and coping with investment programs while maintaining market share. The biggest winner was Telefonica de Espana which accounted for over $7 billion of the sale of Telesp, Tele Sudesete and Tele Leste.

The announcement on the sale of three food processing companies owned by Bunge International (BI) in Latin America, sparked the interest of several multinational firms like RJR Nabisco and Unilever. On the other hand, the divestiture was criticized by local companies whose profit margins are being threatened by foreign competition. In making the spinoff, BI has planned on concentrating on its soybean business due to financial constraints., The planned sale of Bunge's Latin American food processing assets is expected to spark a flurry of M&A activity in an industry where locals are increasingly under fire from foreign [...]

In an interview with LatinFinance's Brazil correspondent Jennifer L. Rich, the new president of Brazil's Central Bank defends his institution's strategy for creating economic stability. When Arminio Fraga speaks, people [...]

When Renato Cuoco started working in the 1950s at the bank that was to become Itau, he was an archivist in the company's paper-based filing system. Now, as head of [...]

Brazil's investment banks search for ways to protect themselves against increasing foreign competition. In the hunt for competitiveness, Brazil's Banco Pactual has tried just about everything. Over the past two [...]

The movement to untangle Brazil's central bank from political influence has reemerged after a swift succession of leaders. When he talks about the place where he spent the last five [...]

When rumors hit the market last month that Telmex owner Carlos Slim was negotiating a deal with minority shareholder SBC Communications that would lead to Telmex's delisting from the Mexican [...]

Will there will be room for granddad's business in the new century? When Robert Mangels describes his company--a family-owned Brazilian metals processor specializing in the autoparts industry--a series of groans [...]

As more and more of Latin America's family-owned companies search for cash, private equity firms are springing up all over the region to offer management resources and capital. But getting [...]

Multimedia companies line up to reap the rewards of Brazil's newly opened telecom market. At Sao Paulo's annual telecommunications trade show Telexpo this year, the crowd was abuzz with talk [...]

Major investors in Brazil's real estate market, pension funds are starting to see the merits of US-style property management. When Compass Asset Management Services took over operations of Sao Paulo's [...]

This article discusses the effect the prevailing global financial crisis is having on the Brazilian market, which is dampening the optimism of asset managers on upcoming pension reform. As a result, investors are being encouraged by the government to trust the stock market as replacement for pension funds., Market turmoil dampens Brazilian asset managers' optimism over upcoming pension reform. The global financial crisis could not have come at a worse time for Brazil's asset managers. Although still in [...]

Jennifer L. Rich Roberto Egydio Setubal, president and CEO of Brazil's Banco Itau, represents the third generation of a family that has painstakingly built a banking empire. Through the years, [...]