Merrill Lynch Hires Nine Senior Bankers to Enhance Its Investment Banking Business in Brazil

Merrill Lynch (NYSE: MER) announced today that it has hired nine best-in-class originators in Brazil to add to its already strong team in that country and as part of its global commitment to increase its footprint in high growth economies. "Merrill Lynch has a strong franchise in Brazil, with tremendous opportunities across our Global Markets & Investment Banking and Global Wealth Management businesses,” said Greg Fleming, president and chief operating officer of Merrill Lynch. "Brazil is a critical growth market for Merrill Lynch and these appointments confirm its importance. These additions to our team will help deliver the firm’s global resources to our Brazilian clients and will help drive synergies between our different platforms.” Merrill Lynch’s Brazilian operations have achieved double-digit revenue growth in the last two years. Adding this group of talented and experienced investment bankers to an already strong revenue-generating team will ensure that Brazil becomes a core participant in global efforts to connect the dots between the firm’s investment banking and wealth management arms. "Merrill Lynch’s decision to strengthen our origination team in Brazil not only demonstrates our commitment to being one of the leading investment banks in the region,” says Andrea Orcel, head of global origination at Merrill Lynch. "It is also a vital part of our goal of creating a global origination powerhouse that cross-sells across businesses and has high-growth markets at its core.” The new hires include four senior bankers at managing director level. Alexandre Bettamio, one of the country’s most respected investment bankers, will join Merrill Lynch as head of investment banking, Brazil. Mr. Bettamio will be coming from UBS-Pactual, where he was co-head of investment banking in Brazil. Roderick Greenlees will also join as a managing director and senior member of Mr. Bettamio’s team. Mr. Greenlees leaves UBS Pactual, where he headed the Brazilian mergers and acquisitions group. Hans Lin also joins Merrill Lynch as a managing director to work alongside Mr. Bettamio, leaving his former position at UBS Pactual as head of Brazilian industrials, investment banking. Sebastien Chatel joins Merrill Lynch as co-head of Latin America Equity Capital Markets. He was a managing director and head of Latin America Equity Capital Markets at Credit Suisse, based in New York. Others joining Merrill Lynch to be part of Bettamio’s team in Brazil include: David Panico from Itau/BBA and former UBS bankers Ricardo Moura, Andre Azevedo, Leonardo Mota and Pedro Garcia. Merrill Lynch is one of the world's leading wealth management, capital markets and advisory companies, with offices in 40 countries and territories and total client assets of almost $2 trillion. As an investment bank, it is a leading global trader and underwriter of securities and derivatives across a broad range of asset classes and serves as a strategic advisor to corporations, governments, institutions and individuals worldwide. Merrill Lynch owns approximately half of BlackRock, one of the world's largest publicly traded investment management companies, with more than $1 trillion in assets under management. For more information on Merrill Lynch, please visit www.ml.com.