Publications

This paper conducts a detailed calculation of capital held by the banks in four Latin American countries—known as the Andean countries: Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru—and assesses the potential effects of full compliance with the capital requirements under Basel III.

These slides are from a presentation by Liliana Rojas-Suarez on the macroprudential approach to financial regulation. Key components of this approach include the recent Basel III Accord, which, among other measures, will impose higher capital requirements and entail a tighter focus on high quality capital.

This paper explores the impact of international financial integration on credit markets in Latin America. The overall effect is positive, but the foreign banks do tend to amplify the impact of foreign shocks on credit and interest rates. Important policy recommendations include ring-fencing mechanisms, early-warning systems, and the incorporation for agreements between domestic and foreign supervisors.

The CGD Task Force on Access to Financial Services proposes 10 principles for financial-sector policymakers—including national authorities, donors, private-sector participants, international financial institutions, and others—on the facilitation, regulation, and direct provision of financial services.

Growing Pains in Latin America lays out and applies a new approach to delivering sustainable, inclusive economic growth to the region.

Access to financial services -- ranging from credit to the use of electronic means of payment -- is crucial for growth and poverty reduction. This new working paper by CGD senior fellow Liliana Rojas-Suarez tells why access to financial services is low in Latin America and suggests innovative solutions. Among the recommendations: public-private partnerships to improve financial literacy; training specialized juries to adjudicate financial disputes in ways that protect the rights of borrowers and creditors; and regulatory changes to speed the spread of technology offering financial services to low-income families and small firms.

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After more than a decade of financial sector liberalization, both of domestic markets and of international financial transactions (capital account liberalization), policymakers in many developing countries remain concerned about the effects that large and highly volatile capital flows have on their financial systems. However, in spite of the tremendous costs associated with the resolution of crises and signs of discontent among the population with the outcome of some reforms, to date there is no significant evidence indicating a reversal of the reform process. While one could advance a number of hypotheses explaining this "commitment to reforms," developing countries’ decisions and actions seem to indicate that policymakers perceive capital inflows as a necessary component to achieve growth and development.