Morgan Stanley dragged into Brazil bank fight: report

SAO PAULO (Reuters) - Brazilian authorities want investment banking giant Morgan Stanley to return about 113 million reais ($54 million) associated with a stock sale by shareholders of troubled lender Banco Cruzeiro do Sul, which was seized by the central bank this month, Folha de S.Paulo newspaper reported Sunday.

Brazil’s central bank seized mid-sized lender Banco Cruzeiro do Sul and placed it under the administration of banking insurance deposit fund FGC for 180 days after uncovering a series of irregularities

Banco Cruzeiro do Sul would be the third small or midsize Brazilian bank to fail in two years. Most customer deposits will be covered by the country's deposit-insurance program.

Banco Cruzeiro do Sul would be the third small or midsize Brazilian bank to fail in two years. Most customer deposits will be covered by the country's deposit-insurance program.

Central bank cites irregularities at lender

This morning I received an email from Otavio who lives in Brazil. Otavio writes ... Hi Mish, Hello from Brazil. Much of what we both expected has begun to occur in Brazil since we exchanged emails last year. The economy has slowed down greatly. We are on the brink of a recession here, if not in recession already. Nonperforming loans have risen pretty much on banks' balance sheets causing bank stocks to plunge. Check out ITUB US Equity on Bloomberg. The Brazilian middle class is very much sunk in debt.

Article written by Prieur du Plessis, editor of the Investment Postcards from Cape Town blog.This post is a guest contribution by Gray Newman of Morgan Stanley.

SAO PAULO (Reuters) - Brazil has told UBS it owes 2.4 billion reais ($1.2 billion) back tax