Rafael Guedes is Fitch Ratings’ country business leader for Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay, and Uruguay. He is responsible for managing and overseeing Fitch’s operations in these countries. Prior to joining Fitch in 1999, Guedes worked for nine years for UBS both in Zurich and in the São Paulo Representative Office as the deputy representative. During those years, he worked in the sovereign debt and asset redeployment department and as the relationship manager for Brazilian financial institutions and corporates. Guedes earned a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from the Pontifícia Universidade Católica in Rio de Janeiro and a master’s degree in Betriebswissenschaft from the ETH in Zurich, Switzerland.