SAO PAULO, Nov 3 (Reuters) - Swiss lender UBS AG said on Tuesday that Carolina Lacerda, the headof its investment banking unit in Brazil for the past fouryears, has left the firm.
In a memo obtained by Reuters, Sylvia Coutinho, UBS's seniorcountry officer in Brazil, said Lacerda stepped down to pursueother interests. Lacerda, a former banker at Merrill Lynch, wasalso a member of UBS's executive committee in Brazil.
In response to a request for comment, UBS said she had toldthe company she was stepping down for personal reasons, addingthat the hiring of former Barclays Plc banker AndréLaloni to replace her as head of corporate client services inSouth America was aimed at "helping expand the segment'soperations."
Still, a source familiar with the situation said UBS partedways with Lacerda due to "growing disagreements over strategy."Efforts to reach Lacerda were unsuccessful.
Her departure comes as UBS's local unit braces for what'sexpected to be the strongest results in capital markets andfinancial advisory since its inception four years ago.
This year, UBS helped advise on British American TobaccoPlc's $3.5 billion buyout and the delisting of Souza Cruz SA,its unit in the country. The Zurich-based bank participated in arights offering of Telefonica Brasil SA andco-managed the postponed initial public offering ofstate-controlled insurer Caixa Seguridade Participações SA. (Reporting by Guillermo Parra-Bernal)
Barclays (BARC)
