Credit Suisse takes aim at UBS’s Latin staff

For reasons I don’t pretend to understand, Credit Suisse and UBS — the two big Swiss banks — are also the two big international heavyweights in the world of Latin American equities. Recently, UBS beefed up its presence in Brazil substantially, when it bought local equities powerhouse Pactual. But did that leave the urbane and fabulous Sebastien Chatel, who was running Latin equities in New York, feeling a little surplus to requirements? Maybe, since Latin Finance reports in its morning email today that Chatel has been poached by Credit Suisse. (Of course, Credit Suisse has owned its own Brazilian investment bank, Garantia, for years.)

Emboldened, perhaps, by its New York coup, Credit Suisse in Zurich decided to go one better, and lured away an entire 16-person Mexican private-banking team, according to Bloomberg’s Adriana Arai.

What does all this mean? If nothing else, it looks as though the banks who are closest to the dealflow in Latin America certainly seem to be in bullish mode. You don’t find high-profile teams and individuals getting poached like this in bear markets.