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| Luiz Pagano at NorChem and Chemical Bank |
My career in the financial market began amid one of its most turbulent times. On February 10, 1989, I lost my father, and it was against this backdrop of pain and uncertainty that my cousin, Paulo Moraes, reached out and arranged a position for me at Banco Noroeste in the foreign exchange (FX) area. I started as an assistant and was soon promoted to FX technician, dealing with CACEX forms from Banco do Brasil at a time when export incentives held enormous weight. Soon after, I moved to centralized FX accounting and, subsequently, to the guarantees department.
As I was eager to grow and wanted to occupy leadership positions faster than the bank’s natural rhythm would allow, I made the bold decision to migrate to Banco NorChem — something that, apart from my cousin Paulo Moraes, no one had done. The people at NorChem looked upon Noroeste employees with a certain prejudice, viewing them as "less competent cousins."
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| Banco NorChem was located on the 11th and 12th floors of Cetenco Plaza, at Avenida Paulista 1842. |
At NorChem, I joined to manage the export routine, and immediately noticed the structural shock. At Banco Noroeste, the export area had 23 people, and the import area had another 17. At NorChem, everything that 40 people did at Noroeste was executed only by me, an intern, and my manager. Even with a smaller workflow than Noroeste’s, the operational overload was enormous.
To make matters worse, my manager was a micromanager—controlling everything closely, which made it even harder to build momentum and autonomy. I vividly remember my first days, around Christmas 1993: I received dozens of PET shipping documents from Celbras, destined for Coca-Cola in Atlanta. For a whole week, I slept only four hours a day to handle everything.
During that phase of the financial market, everything was very different from what exists today. Operations at Banco NorChem required mastery of several systems and technologies that, although advanced for the time, were extremely manual and limited.
To register and control export and import operations, we used an FX management system called ChipShop, which ran on PCs integrated by a Novell network with unintuitive interfaces. Furthermore, there was the obligation to feed SISBACEN, the Central Bank's system, which required code-by-code entry—with no margin for error.
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| Visit to COFACE Compagnie Française d'Assurance pour le Commerce Extérieur, November/December 1995 - Coface regularly holds the Country Risk Conference, events that offer analysis and forecasts on global and regional economic trends, including Latin America. The company publishes the Country and Sector Risk Handbook and periodic reports, offering a detailed analysis of risks in 160 countries and 13 sectors. |
Interbank communication was based on pre-internet tools, such as Telex for formal FX messages and international transfers, and fax for sending shipping documents, contracts, and letters of credit.
The bank also offered a cash management system called Chemlink, aimed at corporate clients, and we worked with FTPC (Funds Transfer by Personal Protocol Computer), which was an initial form of integration with the SWIFT network, used for international transfers.
Internally, communication was done via Netcom, an email restricted to the Novell network intranet—something that seems rudimentary today but was cutting-edge technology at the time.
On the dealing desk, there was only one Reuters terminal; quotations and market data appeared on that single screen, and we had to manually transfer the information to a macro in Lotus 1-2-3, which was the precursor to Excel. Automation was practically artisanal.
The combination of fragmented systems, little automation, intense scrutiny, and lean teams meant that every task required much more effort than it does today. And yet, everything had to be done with absolute precision, within rigid deadlines, and under constant supervision.
THERE WERE ALSO MOMENTS OF RELIEF AND GAINS
Despite the pressure and difficulties, that period was not just about burnout. I took advantage of opportunities and took several courses, such as financial mathematics and languages with native teachers—something that broadened my horizons and prepared me for other levels of performance.
There were also positive differences compared to Banco Noroeste: while there was a 'Bank Reconciliation' department with 7 people just to reconcile discrepancies in the “transit account”—an enormous amount of debits without corresponding credits—at NorChem, no accounting entry could lack its corresponding counterpart and was closed on the same day. The financial settlements department always stayed until the very end to close the transit account on D+0, which prevented the accumulation of pending items, eliminated concerns, and saved rework for everyone.
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| I have dozens of diplomas from courses I took. |
After several disagreements with the manager, I was relocated to the dealing desk. I thought it would be a new beginning within the bank itself, but there was no time. My time at NorChem was abruptly interrupted with my dismissal at the time of the merger with Chase. Besides the restructuring, I was already at my limit, experiencing a very severe burnout.
I had studied Foreign Trade at FGV (Getulio Vargas Foundation), driven by the desire to see the world, travel, and come into contact with other cultures...
... but inside the bank, the reality was different: I only saw offices and pressure.
I decided to change my life and migrated to the kitchen and beverage equipment sector. It was in this new phase that I finally managed to achieve what I always wanted: a less turbulent life, with more culture, real experiences, and human perspectives beyond the suffocating pace of the financial market.
HISTORY OF CHEMICAL BANK
Chemical Bank was born in New York in 1824 as the Chemical Manufacturing Company and entered the banking sector in 1844. Throughout the 20th century, it grew through acquisitions and became one of the largest commercial banks in the United States. In the 1960s and 70s, the bank already controlled billions of dollars in assets and was internationalizing. In 1969, Chemical made history by installing the world's first public-facing, automated ATM (Automated Teller Machine) in Rockville Centre, New York—a global milestone.
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| Chemical was a pioneer in online electronic banking services. On September 2, 1969, it installed the first ATM at its branch in Rockville Centre, New York. Early ATMs were designed to dispense a fixed amount of cash when the user inserted a card with a special code. |
In the 1980s, the bank grew aggressively. By 1981, it had figures above US$ 80 billion in assets and began to seek expansion in strategic markets, such as Brazil, where the banking system was closed to foreign control due to Article 192 of the Constitution.
ARRIVAL IN BRAZIL: THE BIRTH OF NORCHEM (1975)
To enter Brazil legally and strategically, Chemical structured a national joint venture. Thus, Banco NorChem emerged, founded in 1975 by Leo Wakace Cochrane and Peter Brenan. The corporate structure was ingeniously designed to comply with the legislation:
Chemical Bank (EUA) — 49,7%
Israel Klabin — 28,3%
Banco Noroeste / Floating capital — 22%
This corporate engineering avoided direct control by foreigners (which was then prohibited by the Constitution), allowing Chemical Bank to operate indirectly in Brazil with significant influence but without declared majority control.
Until the 1990s, Article 192 of the Brazilian Constitution prevented foreign banks from operating directly in the country, except with specific authorization from the federal government. For this reason, even with 49.7% of the shares, Chemical used NorChem as a legal and strategic bridge to operate in the national market. The reform of banking rules and the opening to foreign capital only began after the Real Plan in the mid-90s.
1980s — EXPANSION AND INTERNATIONAL RELATIONSHIP
During the 1980s, NorChem consolidated itself as a corporate bank with a strong link to multinationals, foreign trade, and large national groups, while the global Chemical Bank advanced with expressive figures:
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| Credit Cards e Debit Cards of Banco Noroeste and Chemical Bank |
✅ By 1985, it already exceeded US$ 120 billion in assets.
✅ In 1987, it entered the ranking of the 10 largest institutions in the USA.
The bank also gained notoriety with unusual initiatives, such as the Cee Bee I—a banking hydrofoil boat that served New York coastal communities in the 1980s, offering all branch services except safe deposit boxes.
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| The Chemical boat that served coastal communities in New York |
1990s — NEW LEADERSHIP AND STRATEGIC CHANGES
Banco NorChem underwent important restructurings in the 1990s with Patrick Morin Jr. taking over as Chairman and Paulo Moraes as CEO.
CEO.
GEOSERVE
The Geoserve was the corporate and operational services unit of the former Chemical Bank (which later merged with Chase Manhattan and subsequently became part of JPMorgan Chase).
Geoserve was crucial in transforming what was traditionally a bank's "back office" into a profit-generating unit.
Functions and Importance of Geoserve:
Nature of the Service: Geoserve was an information and transaction services unit that served the global market.
Services Offered: It included a variety of operational services for corporate clients, such as:
-Cash Management: Managing and optimizing the cash flow of large corporations.
-Funds Transfer.
-Corporate Trust.
-Securities Processing.
-Focus on Profit: Under the leadership of Chemical Bank, the Geoserve unit was strategically transformed from a cost center into a significant profit center, generating hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue through fee-based services.
-Technology Base: Geoserve invested heavily in technology to process a large volume of daily transactions (around 1.8 million transactions/day in the mid-1990s), using its scale and expertise to deliver services efficiently.
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| Visita to Geoserve in Buenos Aires |
Geoserve gained prominence after the merger of Chemical Bank with Manufacturers Hanover in 1991, when the operations of both banks were consolidated under this brand. Following the merger of Chemical with Chase Manhattan in 1996 (which resulted in the Chase Manhattan Bank), Geoserve's information and transaction services businesses were integrated into the new global wholesale banking (corporate wholesale) organization.
In essence, Geoserve represented the corporate treasury and securities processing services of Chemical Bank, a pillar that became a key component of what is now the vast services operation of JPMorgan Chase.
During this period, the bank strengthened its presence in corporate credit, foreign exchange (FX), and financial advisory for Brazilian and multinational companies. Meanwhile, the international Chemical Bank was growing on a billion-dollar scale—and approaching one of the largest mergers in financial history.
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| (August 28, 1995) Chemical Banking Corporation and Chase Manhattan Corporation agreed on Monday (August 28, 1995) to merge in a US$ 10 billion stock transaction. The merger created the largest bank in the United States at the time. In the image, Walter V. Shipley, 59, Chairman and CEO of Chemical, welcomes those present at the press conference and speaks about the merger, and Thomas G. Labrecque, 56, Chairman and CEO of Chase, says it is something truly unique. |
1995 — THE CHEMICAL + CHASE MEGA-MERGER
On August 28, 1995, Chemical Banking Corporation and Chase Manhattan Corporation announced their merger for US$ 10 billion in stock. The new group became the largest bank in the United States, with over US$ 290 billion in assets, operations in more than 90 countries, and a strong presence in associated banks abroad—such as NorChem in Brazil.
Shortly thereafter, the "Chemical" name disappeared, and the consolidated brand became Chase Manhattan (now part of JP Morgan Chase), and along with the name, my position also disappeared.
We all had to sit next to the colleague who had the same role at the other bank and transfer all functions before being fired.
The post-merger restructuring process had two basic points:
1 - Search for cost synergies (eliminating the redundancy in his position).
2 - Knowledge transfer to the colleague who would remain in the new structure, a very common and painful side effect of large bank mergers.
However, this break was a necessary relief. I realized that my desire to study International Trade at FGV was driven by the desire to travel and experience cultures, not just to see the offices of international banks.
Finally, I left the bank in February 1996, decided to change my career, and transitioned to the kitchen and beverage equipment industry. In this new phase, I truly achieved my goal: to live a less hectic life, with more culture and real-world experiences, exploring global cities instead of global offices.
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