JP Morgan has recruited Edinardo Figueiredo from UBS to head its Brazilian private banking business, based in São Paulo.

JP Morgan has recruited Edinardo Figueiredo from UBS
to head its Brazilian private banking business,
based in São Paulo.

Figueiredo will report jointly to José
Berenguer, Brazil
senior country officer of JP Morgan, and Chris Harvey, head of private banking
for Latin America.

Figueiredo latterly served as chief executive of
UBS's Brazil wealth management
business, having previously worked at Banco Itau - most recently as CEO of the
firm’s private banking business in Luxembourg
and Switzerland. He has also held senior positions focusing on investment products at BankBoston
and ABN AMRO in Brazil. 

JP Morgan Private Bank said it views Brazil as a “key market,” as demonstrated by its
six offices serving high net worth and ultra high net worth clients in São Paulo, Rio
de Janeiro, Porto Alegre, Belo Horizonte, Curitiba
and Recife.

The firm is certainly not alone in its endeavours to tap wealth management opportunities in the Latin American country. UBS, for example, in May appointed Sylvia Coutinho as CEO of UBS Group Brazil, taking over from Lywal Salles, who retired in June.

Indeed, there is an abundance of
opportunities available to international firms considering a move into
Latin America, as the global economy continues to be fuelled by growth in
emerging markets like Brazil and Mexico, Juan Pablo Cuevas wrote in a recent Merrill Lynch report on the region.