While stock markets all over the world were ravaged in recent weeks, there was one oasis of calm: Venezuela’s tiny exchange, cosseted by capital controls, actually rose slightly on days where historic losses were being recorded elsewhere.

But a handful of local banks and broker-dealers are facing serious losses, particularly after the collapse of Lehman Brothers, and some may even share a similar fate. Collectively, banks may have been left holding as much as $400m (€290m, £230m) in “structured notes” guaranteed by the US bank.