At long last, Brazil is enjoying macroeconomic stability, which is driving the development of its capital markets. Jonathan Wheatley reports.

As China’s growth continues apace, Jonathan Wheatley reports from São Paulo on how Brazilian banks are moving into the market there and agreeing joint ventures at home.

Deutsche Bank’s successful euro issuance for Brazil helped the dollar market to rally, setting the stage for it to do subsequent dollar and euro deals for a diverse range of issuers. Sophie Roell reports.
The Greeks may have won Euro 2004 but the Germans are firmly in the lead when it comes to euro issuance out of Latin America.

Central Bank initiatives are enabling Brazil’s low-earning citizens to access banking services. Jonathan Wheatley reports from São Paulo on the benefits for both local communities and the financial institutions that cater for them.
Standing in line at a kiosk in Vila Nivi on the northern outskirts of São Paulo, Sandra, a 38-year-old mother of four, is upset. “I’ve been waiting 40 days for my bank card,” she says. “I’ve come here every day to complain.”

Although the offshore market is important to Latin Americans, some are now being tempted to bring their wealth onshore. Monica Campbell reports.
Thanks to a strong, more stable local banking sector, the trend among affluent Latin Americans to have their assets managed offshore is slowly reversing. Sensing an opportunity, many foreign powerhouses, such as US banks Citigroup and JP Morgan, Swiss bank UBS and the UK’s HSBC, are setting up private banking shops in the region, hoping to convince the wealthy to do their financial shopping locally, instead of heading to Miami.

There are encouraging signs that the turnaround in the Brazilian economy is based on more sturdy underlyings than past upturns, but will it fuel enough growth to achieve an investment grade sovereign rating? Brian Caplen reports.

vice-president of technology, Bradesco
In a country whose banking system has become among the most automated in the world, Laércio Albino Cezar – vice-president of technology for Bradesco, Brazil’s number one private bank – has become for many the face of that innovation.

Banco Bradesco, Brazil’s largest non-government bank in asset terms, is enjoying impressive income growth. But it cannot afford to rest on its laurels if it wants to keep up with the competition.Bill Hieronymous in Săo Paulo explains why.
Márcio Cypriano, president and CEO of Banco Bradesco SA, appears confident yet relaxed as he talks to The Banker at the bank’s headquarters in Osasco, Săo Paulo. His contentment may be due to the bank’s announcement a few days earlier that its third-quarter net income has soared to R$752m ($263m) from R$564m a year ago – growth of 33%.
Yet Bradesco has some way to go to catch up with its rival Banco Itaú, a fact that Mr Cypriano appears to shrug off. “This [larger market capitalisation for Itaú] is a function of its higher profitability in the last four years, higher than that of Bradesco,’’ he says. “This doesn’t bother us because we aren’t going to sell Bradesco.’’

Brazil’s central bank assumed control of the operations of struggling Banco Santos on November 15 after the latter was ordered to provide R$700m ($251m) to cover defaulted loans, a sum that exceeded its ability to pay by R$100m.