Barclays Capital, the investment banking division of Barclays Bank PLC, today announced several appointments to its Latin American Equity Research team, significantly enhancing the firm's equities franchise in the region. The Institutional Investor-ranked analysts will have responsibility for coverage of Latin American companies across 10 sectors:

• Roberto Attuch Jr., Head of Equity Research, Latin America - Equity Strategy and Financials
• David Belaunde - Consumer and Retail
• Henrique Caldeira - Non-Bank Financials and Co-Lead on Equity Strategy
• Leonardo Correa - Metals & Mining
• Felipe Mattar and Sergio Conti - Utilities & Oil
• Michel Morin - Telecommunications and Media
• Guilherme Vilazante - Cement & Construction and Real Estate

Commenting on the appointments, Stuart Linde, Head of Global Equity Research, said, “The expansion of our team in Latin America underscores our commitment to building a world-class global equity research franchise. We are excited to welcome such high-quality analysts to our team, and their expertise will be of great value to our clients.”

Henrique Caldeira joins Barclays Capital as Assistant Vice President and Senior Research Analyst responsible for coverage of non-bank financial companies and, in conjunction with Mr. Attuch, Latin American equity strategy. Mr. Caldeira previously worked at Credit Suisse where, together with Mr. Attuch, he ranked #2 in Institutional Investor's 2007 and 2008 Latin America and All-Brazil Research Team surveys for coverage of financial institutions.

Leonardo Correa joins Barclays Capital as Assistant Vice President and Senior Research Analyst covering Latin American metals and mining companies. Prior to joining the firm, Mr. Correa worked at Credit Suisse for three years as part of the team ranked #1 in 2007 and 2008 in the Institutional Investor Latin America Research Team survey for coverage of the metals and mining sector. Christopher LaFemina, Director and Senior Research Analyst covering European metals and mining companies at Barclays Capital, will continue coverage of Vale.

Felipe Mattar joins Barclays Capital as Director and Senior Research Analyst for coverage of Latin American utility and oil companies. Mr. Mattar joins with his team of Sergio Conti, Vice President, and Bruno Pascon, Assistant Vice President, from Citi Investment Research, where he had worked since 2006. Under Mr. Mattar’s leadership, the team ranked #1 in the 2008 Institutional Investor All-Brazil Research Team survey for coverage of electric and other utilities, and ranked in the 2008 Institutional Investor Latin America Research Team survey for coverage of the electric utilities sector. Mr. Mattar previously covered the Latin American utilities universe from 1996 to 2003 at Merrill Lynch and Deutsche Bank, top ranked on several occasions.

Michel Morin joins Barclays Capital as Director and Senior Research Analyst for the Latin American telecommunications and media sectors. He joins the firm from Merrill Lynch where he worked since 1996. Mr. Morin covered the Latin American telecommunications sector from 1998 to 2001, the global telecommunications services sector from 2001 to 2004 and most recently the US business and professional services sector, ranking #2 in the 2008 Institutional Investor All-America Research Team survey.

The hires announced today join existing team members David Belaunde and Guilherme Vilazante.

Mr. Belaunde, Vice President and Senior Research Analyst, joined Barclays Capital in September 2008 and currently publishes research on Latin American consumer and retail companies. Prior to joining Barclays Capital in New York, Mr. Belaunde worked at Lehman Brothers in Europe from 2005 to 2008 as a Senior Research Analyst covering European beverages companies; he most recently ranked #2 in the Institutional Investor 2008 All-Europe Research Team survey.

Mr. Vilazante, Vice President and Senior Research Analyst, joined Barclays Capital in February 2009 and currently publishes research on Latin American cement and construction companies; he will also be responsible for coverage of real estate companies in the region. He joined the firm from UBS Pactual, where he had worked for seven years. Mr. Vilazante ranked #1 for coverage of the real estate sector in the Institutional Investor 2008 All-Brazil Research Team survey; he was also part of the #1 ranked team for cement and construction in the Institutional Investor 2008 Latin America Research Team survey.

The analysts announced today will report to São Paulo-based Roberto Attuch Jr., Head of Equity Research for Latin America, who joined Barclays Capital in March 2009. Mr. Attuch will lead research coverage of Latin American financial institutions and equity strategy. Prior to joining Barclays Capital, he held various positions within Equity Research at Credit Suisse from 1995 to 2008. For seven consecutive years, Mr. Attuch ranked #1 or #2 for coverage of Latin American financial institutions in the Institutional Investor Latin America Research Team survey. In 2008, Mr. Attuch was top-ranked in four Institutional Investor Latin America Research Team survey categories: financial institutions, equity strategy, Brazil team and Mexico team.

Today’s appointments underline Barclays Capital’s commitment to Latin America and the strategic expansion of the firm’s Equities business in the region and around the world. In June 2009, Barclays Capital appointed Ricardo Lanfranchi as Head of Equities Sales for Brazil and in May 2009, appointed Gabriel Barbará as Head of Equities for Mexico. The analysts appointed today join an existing team of analysts and strategists providing economics and fixed income research, market strategy and sector analysis in the region; the firm currently provides investment banking and capital markets services through local offices in São Paulo and Mexico City.

Following the successful integration of Lehman Brothers' North American businesses, Barclays Capital has retained its top ranking in Institutional Investor's All-America Research Team Survey for the sixth straight year in US equities research and the ninth straight year in US fixed income research.

About Barclays Capital

Barclays Capital is the investment banking division of Barclays Bank PLC. With a distinctive business model, Barclays Capital provides large corporate, government and institutional clients with a full spectrum of solutions to their strategic advisory, financing and risk management needs. Barclays Capital has offices around the world, employs 20,000 people and has the global reach, advisory services and distribution power to meet the needs of issuers and investors worldwide. For further information about Barclays Capital, please visit our website www.barclayscapital.com.

Barclays Capital – the investment banking division of Barclays Bank PLC. Registered in England 1026167. Registered office 1 Churchill Place, London, E14 5HP. Authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority and a member of the London Stock Exchange.