Ay caramba! Wells Fargo Advisors is closing up shop in Latin America -- all of its shops.
The brokerage unit will shut down all five of its offices: one in Paraguay, one in Chile, one in Argentina and two in Uruguay. As the reason for the move, the company said "regulatory changes related to the licensing of brokers" had impeded Latin American operations.
As a consolation prize, the company will offer relocation opportunities to U.S. branches for its 100 financial advisers in the region. It expects most employees to head to the Miami location.
This move is directly counter to an established trend. Financial adviser hiring has been on the upswing for several months. In March, Wells Fargo announced that it was hiring 10,000 advisers over time. The month before, BofA said it was planning to hire 2,000 brokers in 2010.
Write to Julie Steinberg