About

The most senior lawyer in Brazil for global financials company Morgan Stanley is João Camarota, managing director, head of legal South America and an inclusion in the inaugural GC Powerlist: Brazil in 2016. A legal team with four lawyers supplemented by one intern and one assistant that has become ‘the hub for South American legal issues for Morgan Stanley [and where] the volume of work and internal clients [has] increased significantly’ according to Camarota. The aforementioned work necessitates a hugely detailed knowledge of the local regulatory environment, which means, in Camarota’s words: ‘The legal department is constantly involved in approving new product structures and new business partners. Cross-border regulations have also played a major role in the recent past, and dealing with sometimes incompatible legal provisions demands a lot from in-house counsel’. Staffed with highly competent professionals more than capable of dealing with these issues, Camarota cites the team’s regulatory achievements, including ‘a productive dialogue with local regulators in order to improve the local regulatory environment, with changes that led to the local Exchange being classified as a qualified CCP for US and European purposes and new significant ownership disclosure rules’. Additionally, technical legal support is also offered by the team ‘on the bank products side, [including] the approval of rules that created structured notes in Brazil, and putting in place a very successful local structured note program and participating in IPOs and follow-on offers’. Highlighted for their contributions in particular include executive director Aline Ferreira, who is responsible for most interactions with local regulators and development of new banking and brokerage products, and has been deeply involved and is a reference to new regulatory initiatives in Brazil. Also executive director, Karina Romano is known for her legal support to IPOs and follow-ons, and has been a ‘key participant’ in developing new market practices in relation to research and capital market offerings.