SAO PAULO, Feb 4 (Reuters) - A series of problems facing embattled investment-banking firm Grupo BTG Pactual SA appear to have stabilized, the president of the group representing Brazil’s securities industry said on Thursday, suggesting that client fund withdrawals and liquidity issues seen at the end of last year may be behind them. “In our conversations with market participants, we have perceived that fund transfers to other banks have eased,” Denise Pavarina, the president of industry group Anbima, said at an event in São Paulo. She was referring to massive client fund withdrawals that took place in the wake of the Nov. 25 arrest of BTG Pactual’s founder André Esteves. Esteves, also the bank’s former chief executive officer, was arrested and accused of obstructing a sweeping corruption probe. He was freed late in December under certain restrictions. The situation led Latin America’s No. 1 independent investment bank to begin selling assets and dismantling trading operations. Reporting by Aluísio Alves; Writing by Guillermo Parra-Bernal; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama
It appears the series of issues that have impacted BTG Pactual over the past few months have stabilised, with the bank suggesting that client fund withdrawals and liquidity issues seen at the end of last year may be behind them. As we noted in November last year, BTG Pactual faced a mass of client fund withdrawals that took place in the wake of the arrest of the bank's founder, Anbima.