CEMLA Bulletin

Monthly publication among central banks and other institutions, it provides timely information about our activities, outstanding current issues, publications, upcoming events, calls, and our presence in international media.

 

2023

  • December 2023
    CEMLA's main functions are to promote the knowledge and dissemination of relevant monetary and central banking topics, to contribute to the training of the personnel of the institutions that make up its membership, and to systematize research collaboration in its different forms. This, always aligned to the changing needs and interests in cutting-edge and highly specialized topics of its Associate and Collaborating Members.

    In this context, the Center presents its Program of Activities 2024, which includes conferences, courses, meetings, seminars and technical assistance on Financial Stability; Financial Market Infrastructures; Macroeconomic Aspects; and Statistics, among others. Some of these activities include the participation of co-sponsoring institutions such as: Deutsche Bundesbank; Finance Network Analytics Ltd; Financial Stability Institute (FSI); International Monetary Fund (IMF); United Nations Environment Programme Finance Initiative (UNEP FI); and, the Instituto Nacional de Estadística y Geografía (INEGI, National Institute of Statistics and Geography), among others.
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  • October 2023
    On October 10, 2023, in Marrakech, Morocco, the CXV Meeting of Governors of Central Banks Members of CEMLA, and the sessions of the Board of Governors and the Center's Assembly took place.

    The CXV Meeting of Governors was attended by Governors and officials of CEMLA member central banks. The discussion focused on the economic and financial outlook, with special emphasis on inflation. Speakers included the Vice President of the European Central Bank, Luis de Guindos, and the Governor of the Federal Reserve Board, Lisa Cook, who spoke on the subject in Europe and the United States, respectively. Also speaking for their countries or regions were the Governors of Banco de la República -Colombia, Leonardo Villar, Banco Central de Reserva del Perú, Julio Velarde, Banco Central de Reserva de El Salvador, Douglas Rodríguez, and Central Bank of the Bahamas, John Rolle. The meeting was moderated by the Governor of the Banco de España, Pablo Hernández de Cos, who chairs CEMLA's Board of Governors.
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  • July 2023
    The 2023 Latin American Journal of Central Banking Conference took place on July 13 and 14, 2023 at CEMLA's headquarters in Mexico City. The event brought together scholars, policymakers, and professionals to discuss essential topics in central banking. Keynote Lectures were given by Charles Bean (LSE), who presented “To QE or not to QE: What Have We Learnt from Two Decades of Unconventional Monetary Policies?” and Vincent Reinhart (Mellon), who gave a talk titled “The Tragedy of Central Banking.”
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  • June 2023
    A course on Financial Programming (FP) was held from June 12 to 16, face to face, where the theoretical and practical aspects of FP and how it is prepared with real data were analyzed. The FP constitutes a macroeconomic program that is congruent with stability and that is feasible and consistent with the budgetary restrictions of the four sectors: real, monetary, fiscal and external and, therefore, also with the budgetary restriction of the economy as a whole. The course had a strong practical orientation since in several sessions, through working groups, a FP exercise was put together, including its macroeconomic diagnosis and projections components.
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  • May 2023
    On May 5 and 6, as part of the celebration of Banco de la República's 100th anniversary, the Meeting of Governors of Central Banks members of CEMLA was held in Cartagena de Indias, Colombia.
    The economic and financial outlook for the Americas, with special emphasis on inflation was discussed during the meeting. On this topic, Alejandro Werner, Director of the Georgetown Americas Institute, spoke about the situation in Latin America after the COVID 19 pandemic and the challenges the region faces for its recovery. Manuel Ramos Francia, Director General of CEMLA, spoke about the evolution of the economy globally and in the Latin American region, referring to the main mponetary policy indicators, as well as the possible implications and the main challenges faced by central banks in a context of high global inflation.
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  • April 2023
    CEMLA, in conjunction with the Deutsche Bundesbank, organized the IV Course on Machine Learning and Central Banking, which was held virtually from April 19-21, 2023. The course was attended by 89 representatives from 23 CEMLA institutions and partners, representing 21 Latin American and Caribbean countries, 3 European countries and 1 Asian country. During the course, the basic components of Machine Learning (ML) were presented, and some methods were analyzed in detail, establishing connections between them and conventional statistical methods.
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  • February to March 2023
    CEMLA hosted on March 7 and 8, 2023, a Seminar on Scenario Design in Stress Testing, jointly organized with the Financial Stability Institute. The event was held in digital format and was attended by 82 representatives from 29 institutions and associates of CEMLA. The event was focused on scenario design and cyclicality of stress test scenarios, and scenarios for climate-related stress testing exercises.
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  • December 2022 to January 2023
    CEMLA’s 2023 agenda is set against the backdrop of pressing needs by our member institutions to rapidly adapt to a challenging post-pandemic economic environment. While central banks and supervisory authorities face challenges originated in mounting global uncertainty, structural developments including the digitalization of financial markets and the risk posed by climate change have also become a key driver of global discussions on how central banks should incorporate new policy strategies and methodological approaches to achieve their mandates.
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2022

  • November
    CEMLA’s Directorate of Financial Stability, jointly with UNEP and UNEP FI, organized the III Central Banks Conference on Environmental Risks. The conference was held in hybrid format on December 1-2, 2022, in Mexico City. It was attended by 57 in-person and 99 virtual representatives from 58 institutions and associates of CEMLA, representing 24 Latin-American and Caribbean countries, the United States and Canada, 11 European countries, and 1 Asian country. During the conference, the Climate Financial Risk Center was officially launched. This joint initiative between CEMLA, UNEP and UNEP FI, with the financial support from Euroclima+, aims to promote research initiatives, build capacity, and share knowledge and best practices to advance responses to financial risks stemming from climate change.
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  • October
    On October 12, in Washington, D.C., the CXIII Meeting of Governors of Central Banks Members of CEMLA took place. Meetings of CEMLA's Assembly and of the Board of Governors also took place.
    As is customary, during the Governors' Meeting, information was exchanged on the main aspects of the current economic situation and international financial markets.
    The meeting was attended by representatives from 31 institutions, who were welcomed to the Meeting by Dr. Manuel Ramos Francia, CEMLA's Director General. The session began with a presentation by Dr. Ilan Goldfajn, Director of the IMF's Western Hemisphere Department, who addressed the tightening of current global financial conditions. This was followed by a presentation by Dr. Manuel Ramos Francia on monetary policy in a global environment of high inflation.
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  • September
    The XVII Meeting of Heads of Monetary Policy was held in a digital format on September 26 and 27, 2022. The meeting was aimed at senior monetary policy officials and researchers from CEMLA member central banks. The event featured presentations on the experiences of the central banks of Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, Peru, Spain, and Uruguay in conducting monetary policy in an environment of global high inflation. In addition, Óscar Arce, Director General Economics at the European Central Bank (ECB), gave a keynote speech on the challenges for the global monetary policy in a context of high inflation, focusing on the case of the Euro Zone. Finally, a Policy Roundtable discussion took place.
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  • April
    The Center for Latin American Monetary Studies (CEMLA) co-hosted the Annual Event of Finance Research Letters 2022 CEMLA Conference: New Advances in International Finance which took place on April 21-22, 2022. The conference focused on new developments in international finance, with emphasis on topics such as macro-finance, corporate governance, financial markets, banking, and market interdependence. A total of 100 research papers prepared by 233 authors were presented in 28 parallel sessions, of which 6 were delivered as face-to-face sessions at CEMLA facilities alongside the Keynote Lecture during the first day of the event.
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  • March
    The fifth edition of the Fintech Forum addressed two topics at the frontier of knowledge and of great interest to central bankers, these were stablecoins and Bigtechs. The stablecoin is a digital token, which incorporates stabilization tools to reduce the volatility of its price. The stabilization tool may rely on collateral such as: fiat currency, cryptocurrency, or a commodity. With this in mind, it is essential to distinguish between stablecoins and traditional cryptoassets, this characterization was addressed in the keynote by Professor Rodney Garratt, the presentation concluded with an in-depth discussion on the evolution and future trends of these assets.
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  • February
    The Seminar on “Covid-19 related measures: effectiveness and exit”, co-organized by the Financial Stability Institute (FSI) and CEMLA, was held on a digital format on February 9 and 10, 2022. The seminar was attended by 68 representatives from 29 institutions and associates of CEMLA. The event featured two sessions in which representatives from different countries presented the experiences with macrofinancial policies taken in response to the Covid-19 crisis. The first session focussed on the usage of countercyclical capital buffers (CCyB) and the re-building of buffers after the crisis. In the second session, the macro- and microprudential policy mix of different jurisdictions during the crisis were discussed.
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  • January
    The IV Conference on Financial Stability, co-organized by the Bank of Canada, Banco de México, the Journal of Financial Stability, the University of Zurich, and CEMLA, was held in digital format on November 23-25, 2021. The conference, attended by more than 120 representatives from universities, central banks, and CEMLA’s associated institutions, aimed at fostering the dialogue between researchers in the academia and policy institutions, focusing on emerging challenges for financial stability. The conference was also motivated by the need to evaluate the lessons for financial stability from the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as the implication of environmental risks threatening financial systems.
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2021

  • December
    The second pandemic year, 2021, gave us both challenges and reasons for hope. While it was a very difficult year, we now have more knowledge about what needs to be done to control the virus. We have vaccines, but also the prospect of new therapeutic options that will allow us to avoid experiencing the worst consequences of the disease. This encourages us to plan some of our 2022 events in a face-to-face format, although we will be watching the evolution of the pandemic to responsibly determine the appropriateness of doing so.
    The COVID-19 crisis and its effects was a recurring theme in several CEMLA events in 2021. Its effects on monetary policy, financial stability and payment systems, as well as on the real sector, the data challenges related to the pandemic, the effects on migration, remittances and financial inclusion, its impact on human resource management and on information security, among others, were analyzed. In addition, the 2021 Joint Research Program aimed to contribute to research on the economic impact of the pandemic and explore the economic policies associated with it.
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  • November
    No bulletin published

  • October
    The course was held on a digital format on October 25-29, 2021, and was attended by 92 representatives from 28 institutions and associates of CEMLA from the following countries: Bolivia, Chile, Costa Rica, Honduras, Argentina, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Peru, Ecuador, Uruguay, Brazil, Spain, Guatemala, Colombia, Mexico, Morocco, Canada, Jamaica, Mauritius, République d'Haïti, Belize, Curaçao en Sint Maarten, Suriname, Ukraine, Turks and Caicos Islands. The event was focused on the following topics: introduction to financial stability analysis and systemic risk, foundations of macroprudential regulation, panel data analysis, financial safety nets, banking resolution and supervision, interconnectivity, stress testing and COVID-19 related challenges.
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  • September
    The XI Meeting of Heads of Financial Stability was held in digital format from September 7 to September 9. The meeting was jointly organized by the Center for Latin American Monetary Studies (CEMLA), Banco Central de Chile and Banco de España. The event aims to provide a forum to discuss current issues in financial stability and exchange experiences about policy actions.
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  • August
    On July 31, 2021, the mutual cooperation relationship that CEMLA and IDB-Lab, [formerly Multilateral Investment Fund - MIF) maintained for the past 16 years for the development of three Programs concluded: (a) Improvement of Central Bank Information and Procedures in the Area of Remittances (concluded in 2012), which sought to improve the compilation, presentation and transparency of the information produced by central banks on the subject, (b) Implementation of the General Principles for Remittance Markets in Latin America and the Caribbean (concluded in 2016), which in coordination with the World Bank and the BIS, sought to implement the principles developed to improve the efficiency and security of the remittance market in the region, with the objective of promoting a reduction in the cost of sending remittances; and c) Remittances and Financial Inclusion (PRIF), which ended on July 31, 2021. 
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  • June
    Regional Conference on Payments and Market Infrastructures. CEMLA organized the Regional Conference on Payments and Market Infrastructures, in collaboration with Banco de la República (Central Bank of Colombia), from June 15 to 18, as a digital event. The Conference was attended by over 200 participants from near 40 organizations, including central banks, international organizations, scholars and researchers. The Center is extremely proud to start organizing this biennial Conference on an each-time more relevant subject for central bankers, payments and FMIs. This effort sums to other important activities led by CEMLA, including its Innovation Hub. Dr. Manuel Ramos Francia, Director General of CEMLA and Governor Leonardo Villar, from Banco de la República (Colombia), inaugurated the Conference remarking that it takes place amid an unprecedented context of transformation for payments and financial market infrastructures (FMIs). The Scientific Committee of the Conference comprised internationally well-known scholars and policymakers from and abroad the region. Dr. James McAndrews and Professor Rodney Garratt, both of them Former Vice-presidents at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, featured as keynote speakers.
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  • May
    We are pleased to inform you that, during CEMLA´s Assembly session held on May 20, 2021 in digital format, the Associate Members decided to modify Articles 4, 5, and 6 of the Center's Statutes. The above to allow the entry of Associate Members from geographic regions other than Latin America and the Caribbean. In the context of the new Statutes, during the same Assembly session, the Banco de España was accepted as a new Associate Member, which represents a historic event, without precedent in CEMLA. At present, there are 31 Associate Members of the Center. CEMLA's Associate and Collaborating Members extend a heartfelt welcome to Banco de España, which CEMLA will continue to be working with to strengthen the Center's activities, aimed at satisfying the needs and expectations of its Membership.
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  • April
    The XIV Meeting on International Reserves Management took place on April 14, 15 and 16. Dr. Ramos-Francia, General Director of CEMLA, delivered the opening remarks. He recalled that in the past decade and a half, for a variety of reasons, there has been a marked increase in the balance sheets of various central banks, both in Advanced Economies (AEs) and Emerging Market Economies (EMEs). For many EMEs, the most important element has been their International Reserves (IR). Managing and accumulating IR have become increasingly challenging tasks. Central banks accumulate and hold IR for several reasons. There are two key aspects to IR: the management of their portfolios and their use, as for instance, when intervening in the FX market for liquidity provision purposes. Dr. Ramos-Francia then divided the rest of his remarks into two topics: first, the macroeconomic environment and, second, the possibility of market tantrums taking place.
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  • March
    The Fintech Forum held its IV plenary meeting from March 23 to 25, 2021, to keep promoting the sharing of experiences and knowledge regarding the evolution of financial technologies and their implications for the central banking community. This fourth gathering served to discuss on Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDC), Global Stablecoins, bigtechs and sustainable digital finance. Dr. Manuel Ramos-Francia, Director General of CEMLA, delivered an opening speech to the Forum on foundational aspects of money and the possible introduction of both, public and private digital forms of fiat money.
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  • February
    The remittances received by several countries in 2020 helped to partially alleviate the effects of the health and economic crisis among the families receiving these resources, and also helped to reduce the imbalances that the pandemic created in some current accounts of the balance of payments. Reports on the evolution of remittances received by countries in some continents show that migrants, as they always do when faced by their families in urgent situations, tried to maintain their levels of remittances; however, in almost all latitudes, these flows were victims of the pandemic and showed significant reductions in relation to the flows observed a year earlier.
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  • January
    The pandemic has posed an unprecedented challenge in recent decades for our societies. Although the origins of the present crisis is in public health, it has had dramatic ramifications, disrupting many of our economic activities. Some of the changes we have witnessed and experienced in recent months are likely to be permanent. Even with the creation and approval of various vaccines, uncertainty prevails about the evolution of the pandemic and the economy, in particular, as inoculating a critical mass of the population is logistically complicated, and the emergence of virus strains for which vaccines are not effective cannot be ruled out. In this context, the challenges faced by central banks in the region are significant. Therefore, we consider that the analysis of the situation, research and the exchange of experiences in the field of central banking should be very productive for the Membership.
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2020

  • December

    During the first months of 2020, as the Covid-19 pandemic intensified in the main advanced countries from which the bulk of volume of remittances received by Latin American and Caribbean countries originates, economic activity fell dramatically, which implied a severe contraction in the employment and income levels of the employed population, including Latin American migrant workers. This led to a reduction in family remittances sent by these immigrant workers. In this adverse scenario, international organizations and financial institutions revised down their remittances forecasts. In fact, financial institutions and analysts anticipated that during 2020 remittances inflows received by emerging economies could fall around 20%, including those directed to Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC). Such forecasts for LAC have not materialized. In fact, during the first ten months of 2020, remittances inflows for the six main receiving countries reached US$64.4 billion and their annual growth reached 7.7 % and 4.8%, if México is excluded.
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  • November
    CEMLA, along with the Association of Banking Supervisors of the Americas (ASBA) and the Financial Stability Institute (FSI) of the Bank for International Settlements (BIS), jointly organized the Meeting on Cyber ​​Security. This digital meeting was held on November 3 and 4, 2020, with the objective of discussing recent practices and regulatory developments to strengthen cybersecurity within central banks and financial supervision agencies, and other participants of the financial system. During the meeting, relevant developments in the areas of cyber testing, and response and recovery from cyber incidents were presented.
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  • October
    The COVID-19 pandemic required central banks to take timely and forceful actions to preserve the health of financial systems domestically and overseas. In this context, CEMLA organized three high-level meetings in the third quarter of 2020 to discuss said policies from three different angles: financial stability, market infrastructures, and financial risk management.
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  • September
    The COVID-19 crisis quickly became a global challenge, both in terms of public health and economic policy. Thus, a natural theme for the 10th Central Bank Operations Meeting was the policy response and facilities offered by the region's central banks, the Federal Reserve and the ECB to the COVID-19 crisis. This crisis has led to a formidable effort by several economic authorities to first respond to the increased demand for health services. Fiscal policy has led the rest of the economic policy responses to COVID-19. These policies have also directly supported public health responses. It is important to remember that a global pandemic is not a currency shock. 
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  • August
    CEMLA has continued conducting seminars, conferences, courses, and other exchange, dissemination, and training activities, mainly through the use of video conferences and other digital media. During this period, we also celebrated the launch of our new specialized publication: Latin American Journal of Central Banking. Likewise, we have continued to give priority to work on cutting-edge issues of particular importance to central banking –with payment systems, infrastructure and financial stability as highlights. The aim remains that everything that CEMLA does must be of benefit to its members and associates.
    Read more...

 

 

4/06/2021
Election of the Board of Governors 2021-2023
On May 20, 2021, the representatives of the Associated entities that constituted the quorum to hold the meeting of the Assembly of the Center for Latin American Monetary Studies (CEMLA), which was previously convened by the Board of Governors, met by videoconference. Representatives of 22 Associated entities attended the meeting.

15/08/2019
The Role of Autonomous Central Banks in Economic Research and Advice to the Governments in the Formulation of Economic Policy
Address by Dr. Manuel Ramos-Francia in the event "Dialogue on the Autonomy of the Central Bank ", organized by the Banco Central del Ecuador.

18/07/2019
11th Annual Conference, Banco Central de Reserva del Perú and the Reinventing Bretton Woods Committee
Address by Dr. Manuel Ramos-Francia in the event coinciding with the 75th anniversary of the Bretton Woods meeting (which established the IMF and The World Bank), and inaugurated by the President of the BCRP, Julio Velarde. The seminar was attended by representatives of international organizations such as the International Monetary Fund, IADB, Center for Latin American Monetary Studies (CEMLA), and the Bank for International Settlements (BIS).

11/07/2019
Dialogue: The Independence and Autonomy of the Central Banks
Address by Dr. Manuel Ramos-Francia in the event “Dialogue: The Independence and Autonomy of the Central Banks”. The event was attended by Verónica Artola, General Manager of the Banco Central del Ecuador; Ramon Espinel, Director of Centro de Investigaciones Rurales de la Espol; Manuel Ramos-Francia, Director of the Center for Latin American Monetary Studies; Alberto Dahik, Postgraduate Director of the Universidad de Especialidades Espiritu Santo; and Marco Elizalde, Professor at the Universidad Catolica de Santiago de Guayaquil.

14/05/2019
Board of Governors 2019-2021
Last April 30, in Cartagena de Indias, Colombia, CEMLA´s Assembly elected the new Board of Governors for the period 2019 to 2021. This new Board is formed by Guido Sandleris, President, Banco Central de la República Argentina, John A. Rolle, Governor, The Central Bank of The Bahamas; Roberto Campos, Governor, Banco Central do Brasil; Irma Martínez, President, Banco Central de Cuba; Mr. Wilfredo Cerrato, President, Banco Central de Honduras; Alejandro Díaz de León Carrillo, Governor, Banco de México; and Juan José Echavarría, Governor, Banco de la República, of Colombia, who was elected to chair the Board by its members.

26/06/2019
Cybersecurity, the Biggest Concern of Financers
Cybersecurity and the protection of personal data are the main concern of financial authorities regarding the risks derived from fintech, according to a survey prepared by the Center for Latin American Monetary Studies (CEMLA).

11/06/2019
Forum of FINTECH Experts
CEMLA launched the Forum of FINTECH Experts, also known as the Fintech Forum. The goal of the Forum is to bring together the knowledge and experience of central banks of the region, international organizations and other relevant institutions to analyze the dimensions and potential impact of the FinTech phenomenon in central banking mandates

 

 

2018

13/12/2018
Manuel Ramos-Francia, appointed as CEMLA’s Director General for the period from 2019 to 2023
On 11 October, 2018, CEMLA’s Assembly designated Dr. Manuel Ramos-Francia as Director General of the Center for a period of five years (renewable) as of 1 January, 2019. Dr. Manuel Ramos-Francia has a B.A. in Economics from the Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de México (ITAM) and holds a Ph.D. in Economics from Yale University. He has been Director of the Center for Analysis and Economic Research at ITAM in Mexico.

29/11/2018
Intermediate Meetings: CEMLA Fintech Forum
The Center for Latin American Monetary Studies (CEMLA) launched the Fintech Forum in Buenos Aires, Argentina on March, 2018, with the aim to bring together the knowledge and experience of central banks of the region, international organizations and other relevant institutions, in order to contribute to the analysis and assessment of the interaction of new financial technologies with monetary and financial stability mandates.

25/10/2018
Press release
IX Meeting of Open Market Operations
The IX edition of the CEMLA Meeting on Open Market Operations was hosted by the Banco Central de Chile, in Santiago from October 10 to 12, 2018. A total of 27 officials from 22 institutions, including central banks and international organizations from Latin America and the Caribbean, Europe and Asia. The Meeting was devoted to better understand the implications and responses of central banking emerging economies’ monetary operations frameworks stemming from the so-called “normalization” of monetary policy in advanced economies.

19/10/2018
Successful completion of CEMLA’s Debt Program  
After five years of successful implementation, the Public Debt Management Capacity Building Program (PDP) of the Center for Latin American Monetary Studies (CEMLA) and funded by the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) has concluded with the evaluations performed in 2018.  

12/10/2018
LIII Meeting of Governors of Latin America, Spain and the Philippines at the IMF-World Bank 
and CVI Meeting of Central Bank Governors of CEMLA 
On October 11, were held the LIII Meeting of Governors of Latin America, Spain and the Philippines at the IMF-World Bank, and the CVI Meeting of Central Bank Governors of CEMLA, in Bali, Indonesia.  CEMLA was represented by Fernando Tenjo Galarza, General Director and Dalmir Louzada, Deputy General Director.

12/10/2018
Winner of the Central Bank Award Rodrigo Gómez 2018
CEMLA’s Board of Governors decided to grant the 2018 Central Bank Award Rodrigo Gómez to Mariano Joaquín Palleja, for his study entitled “Conditional Exchange Rate Pass-through: A DSGE Model Approach”.

4/10/2018
Compendium of Practices: Central Banking Market Operations Framework in Latin America and the Caribbean
CEMLA hosts a number of technical meetings on several technical areas of central banking. The technical meetings are aimed at exchanging ideas and experiences between members and guest institutions, providing a forum for discussion of issues of common interest. An important aspect that has been repeatedly highlighted by discussions in the CEMLA Meeting on Open Market Operations is that central banks' actions are shaped by the monetary policy frameworks in which they operate.

4/9/2018
Workshop on Risk Management and Oversight of Payment Systems
The Workshop was attended by senior professionals from 16 institutions, comprising Latin American and Caribbean central banks and national and international financial authorities, that gathered to exchange their experience in the development and exercise of monitoring and policy-making payments and market infrastructures, that is to oversee financial market infrastructures.

30/7/2018
Regional Conference: Digital Currencies and Central Banks’ Regulatory Response
CEMLA in joint with Caribbean Regional Technical Assistance Centre (CARTAC) of the International Monetary Fund and the Central Bank of Trinidad and Tobago organized the Regional Conference on Digital Currencies and Central Banks’ Regulatory Response in Port of Spain, on July 19 and 20, 2018. The Conference was aimed at promoting an active debate on digital currencies and related technologies as well as other innovations in financial sector that are challenging the current regulatory and policy framework in the Caribbean Community and internationally.

13/06/2018
Press release
CV Meeting of Central Bank Governors of the CEMLA
On 4 and 5 June, the CV Meeting of the Central Bank Governors of CEMLA was held in Asunción, Paraguay. The meeting was sponsored by the Banco Central del Paraguay, represented by its President, Mr. Carlos Fernández. Once the meeting was formally opened, the sessions of analysis and debate began.

13/06/2018
Press release
Presentation of the Rodrigo Gómez Central Banking Award 2017
Within the framework of the CV Meeting of the Central Bank Governors (in Asunción, Paraguay), Victoria Nuguer, the winner of the Central Bank Award Rodrigo Gómez 2017, presented her study entitled " Fed’s Interest Rate Normalization: Does it Matter Who Borrows from Abroad in EME?, for which she won the Award. 

13/06/2018
Press release
IV Meeting of the Financial Information Forum
The IV Meeting of the CEMLA Financial Information Forum was held in Madrid, Spain on May 28-30, 2018, under the auspices of the Bank of Spain.

 

2017

3/12/2017
Regional Payments Week 2017
The XVII edition of the Payments Week took place in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, from December 1st to 4th, under the coordination of the World Bank Group – Finance & Markets Global Practice, the Bank of International Settlements and the Center for Latin American Monetary Studies and the auspices of the Banco Central de la República Dominicana. The Regional Payments Week is the Western Hemisphere Payments and Securities Settlement Forum annual meeting that gathers development, regulation, operation and oversight mangers and experts of payment systems and market infrastructures in Latin America and the Caribbean

19/10/2017
Press release
Magyar Nemzeti Bank, new Collaborating Member of CEMLA
On October 12, 2017, during its meeting held in Washington D. C., United States, the Board of Governors of CEMLA approved the request made by the Magyar Nemzeti Bank (The Central Bank of Hungary) for becoming part of the Center as collaborating member.

12/10/2017
Meeting of Central Bank Governors
The CIV Meeting of Central Bank Governors of the Center for Latin American Monetary Studies was held in Washington D. C., United States of America, on 12 October, 2017.

12/10/2017
Winner of Central Bank Award Rodrigo Gómez 2017
CEMLA’s Board of Governors decided to grant the 2017 Central Bank Award Rodrigo Gómez to Victoria Nuguer, research economist at Research Department, InterAmerican Development Bank, for her study entitled “Fed's Interest Rate Normalization: Does it Matter Who Borrows from Abroad in EME?”.

10/10/2017
III Meeting of the Financial Information Forum
The III Meeting of the CEMLA Financial Information Forum was held in Santiago, Chile on October 4 and 5, 2017 under the auspices of the Banco Central de Chile. The Financial Information Forum gathers Latin American and Caribbean financial authorities and international experts in charge of regulating, managing and using financial information for the design of financial stability oriented policies. The III Meeting had the participation of over 45 delegates from central banks, banking supervisory authorities, international organizations that debated: 1) the role of Central Balance Sheet Offices; 2) the progress made about Data Sharing; and 3) the interplay of Financial Inclusion and the relevant data for its measurement.

27/9/2017
Regarding the Earthquake in Mexico
Dear Associate and Collaborating Members, and friends of CEMLA, We appreciate your messages of support, solidarity and affection after the earthquake of last 19 September in Mexico City. Our headquarters are in Colonia Roma, one of the areas with greater damage; however, neither the staff of the Center, nor the participants in the Workshop on Advanced Macroeconomic Forecasting, were affected.

24/8/2017
FinTech: key issues and challenges for central banks
In light of the impact that new technologies and innovation have had in the financial world, reflected in the emergence of new agents, business models, products and solutions that lead to a new landscape for financial markets and infrastructures, key central banking functions has been affected. These brief highlights key issues and challenges that merit the attention of the Latin American and Caribbean central banking community.

13/6/2017
Remittances to Latin America and the Caribbean in 2016: A New Record
The Center for Latin American Monetary Studies (CEMLA) and the Multilateral Investment Fund (MIF) of the Inter-American Development Bank (IBD) group published the report “Remittances to Latin America and the Caribbean in 2016: A New Record” showing the evolution that year of remittance flows to the region and their estimates for 2017.

24/5/2017
CIII Meeting of Central Bank Governors
Last 19 and 20 May, the CIII Meeting of Central Bank Governors of the Center for Latin American Monetary Studies, was held in San Carlos de Bariloche, Río Negro, Argentina. The Meeting began with the welcoming remarks given by Mr. Federico Sturzenegger, Governor of Banco Central de la República Argentina.

23/5/2017
Board of Governors 2017-2019
Last Saturday, 20 May, in San Carlos de Bariloche, Rio Negro, Argentina, CEMLA´s Assembly elected the new Board of Governors for the period from 2017 to 2019.

 

2016

23/12/2016
Global Payments Week 2016
The Global Payments Week 2016 was held in Turin, Italy on September 20-23, 2016 under the coordination of the World Bank Group, CEMLA and the Bank for International Settlements, with the special collaboration of the Banca d ’Italia.

1/9/2016
Technical cooperation activities between FIF members

16/5/2016
CI Meeting of Central Bank Governors of CEMLA
On May 10 and 11 the CI Meeting of Central Bank Governors of CEMLA was held in Lisbon, Portugal under the auspices of Banco de Portugal. The Meeting was inaugurated by Governor Carlos Da Silva Costa, Banco de Portugal.

6/4/2016
Guiding Principles: Payment aspects of financial inclusion
Since April 2014, the Center for Latin American and Monetary Studies (CEMLA) participates in the Task Force on the Payment Aspects of Financial Inclusion (PAFI) chaired by the Committee on Payments and Market Infrastructures (CPMI) and the World Bank Group (WB). Today, the PAFI final report has been published seeking to tackle barriers to the adoption and usage of transaction accounts, which sit at the heart of retail payment services.

16/2/2016
Statistics on Payment, Clearing and Settlement Systems in Latin American and the Caribbean Region
The Yellow Book Statistics comprise two series. Series “A” are statistics on payments and securities clearing and settlement for each country. Series “B” are more general statistics related to the financial sector. Series A is organized in two items, namely Country Tables and Comparative Tables. These documents present both Comparative Tables and Country Tables for a time span of 2009-2014.

 

2015

24/11/2015
Results of the 2015 Poster Contest on Economic Research for Economics Students
Members of the Economic Research Management, who acted as judges, are pleased to announce that the winner of the Poster Contest for Economic Research 2015 are Andrés David Pinchao Rosero and Juan Sebastián Holguín from the Universidad del Valle (Colombia), for their study "Bank Lending Channel: Evidence for Colombia". The authors attempt to identify theoretically and empirically the impact of monetary policy decisions through the credit channel in the Colombian economy for the period 2002-2013. They used a FAVAR methodology, allowing to obtain various types of observable and unobservable factors, including some of macroeconomic conditions, some market interest rates and other credit supply of commercial banks. The results indicate that the credit channel, operated effectively in the Colombian economy, for the period analyzed.

14/10/2015
C Meeting of Central Bank Governors of the Center for Latin American Monetary Studies
Studies, was held in Lima, Perú. This meeting had two sessions. During the first one, Mr. Alejandro Vanoli, President of the Banco Central de la República Argentina presented the most relevant issues under the G20 agenda. During the second session, participants benefitted from the presence of Messrs. Thomas A. Connors, Deputy Director, Division of International Finance, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System; Luis M. Linde, Governor, Banco de España; Julio Velarde, President, Banco Central de Reserva del Perú; and E. Lesetja Kganyago, Governor, South African Reserve Bank as speakers. Their presentations focused on the international economic and financial perspectives. Both sessions were of great interest for participants, who contributed with valuable remarks.

8/10/2015
Press release
2015 Rodrigo Gómez Central Bank Award
CEMLA’s Board of Governors decided to grant the 2015 Rodrigo Gómez Central Bank Award to Fernando José Pérez Forero, official from the Banco Central de Reserva del Perú, for his study entitled “Comparing the transmission of monetary policy shocks in Latin America: A Hierarchical Panel VAR”. In this paper, to be published by CEMLA in English and Spanish, the author assesses and compares the effects of monetary policy shocks across Latin American countries that put in practice the Inflation Targeting scheme (Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico and Peru).

28/09/2015
Medium-term Debt Management Strategy (MTDS) Workshop
The Medium-term Debt Management Strategy (MTDS) Workshop took place in Mexico City at CEMLA headquarters from September 21-25. The event was jointly organized by CEMLA, World Bank (WB) and International Monetary Fund (IMF).

11/09/2015
Payment aspects of financial inclusion Public Consultation of the Report
CPMI and World Bank Group have issued the consultative report “Payment aspects of financial inclusion”. This report provides an analysis of the payment aspects of financial inclusion, on the basis of which it sets out guiding principles designed to assist countries that seek to advance financial inclusion in their markets through payments.

9/09/2015
The role of credit reporting in supporting financial sector regulation and supervision
Recently, the Committee drafted the report on “The role of credit reporting in supporting financial sector regulation and supervision” with the objective to in-depth analyze key issues for the implementation of the Principles worldwide. The Committee submits for public consultation this report.

3/08/2015 Seminar on Recent Developments in Payment and Settlement Systems
The Center for Latin American Monetary Studies (CEMLA) and the Deutsche Bundesbank held in the Seminar on Recent Developments in Payment and Settlement Systems, under the auspices of the Central Bank of Paraguay in Asuncion from July 21 to 23, 2015. The seminar was attended by 41 participants from 14 national central banks of Latin America and the Caribbean.

24/06/2015
Remittances Forum
IFAD awards excellence in remittances for social and economic development
On June 18, 2015, the fifth Global Forum on Remittances and Development (GFRD) was held in Milan, Italy, organized by the United Nations International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), where awarded a bank, an NGO, a CEO and a private company for their efforts to help remittance recipients leverage the funds they receive for greater social and development impact.

16/06/2015
Financial Information Forum
I Meeting of the Financial Information Forum
The Center for Latin American Monetary Studies (CEMLA) held the first meeting of the Forum of Financial Information of Latin American and Caribbean Central Banks (FIF) on 8 and June 9, 2015 in Mexico City, Mexico. The meeting was attended by 39 representatives from 27 institutions, including central banks and international organizations.

5/06/2015
XCIX Meeting of Central Bank Governors of the Center for Latin American Monetary Studies
On May 29 and 30, 2015, the XCIX Meeting of Central Bank Governors of the Center for Latin American Monetary Studies, was held in Cancún, Quintana Roo, Mexico. Once the opening remarks were given by Agustín Carstens, Governor, Banco de Mexico, host of the event, the sessions addressed the following topics: International economic and financial outlook; Strengths and macroeconomic challenges in Latin America and the Caribbean; Topics under discussion at the G20; Monetary policy challenges related to recent commodity prices trend; Strengthening of financial stability through a macroprudential approach - Implications for monetary policy; and International private banking view on economic and financial situation in Latin America and the Caribbean.

1/07/2015
Election of CEMLA´s Board of Governors for the period 2015-2017
On May 30, 2015, the Assembly of the Center gathered in Cancun, Quintana Roo, Mexico, and according to CEMLA´S Statutes, the Associate members were to elect the Board of Governors for the period from May 2015 to May 2017. Once the election was held, the Board of Governors for the period 2015 – 2017 was conformed by the following Institutions, to wit: Central Bank of The Bahamas, Banco Central de Chile, Banco Central de Bolivia, Banco Central de Costa Rica, Banco de México, Banco Central de Paraguay, and Banco Central de Venezuela; as well as by Banco de España and the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, as special consultants.

Mr. Rodrigo Vergara, president of the Banco Central de Chile, was appointed Chairman of the Board of Governors for the period 2015-2017, replacing Dr. Alexander A. Tombini, Governor of the Banco Central do Brasil, who held said position from 2013 to 2015.

14/05/2015
CEMLA and FOMIN will promote the development of an enabling environment for the financial inclusion of remittance clients
The Multilateral Investment Fund (MIF), recently approved a technical cooperation grant of US$1.2 million to complement other US$1.2 million from the Center for Latin American Monetary Studies for the implementation of a regional project that seek to strengthen the legal and regulatory frameworks of the region's remittance market and to improve the information available on the sector in order to create an enabling environment that will allow central banks, supervisory agencies, and other relevant institutions to increase the number of financial products that meet the needs of people who send and receive remittances.

29/04/2015
Capacity Development Session for the Oversight of the National Payments System of Jamaica
From April 21 to 24, 2015, in Kingston, Jamaica, the Bank of Jamaica, with technical assistance from CEMLA, organized a capacity development session for the oversight of the National Payments System (NPS). The purpose of this session was to develop the institutional capacity of the various stakeholders, financial institutions, financial market infrastructure providers and central bank staff, in order to establish the institutional framework for the data exchange and disclosure on the functioning of the payments and securities clearing and settlement systems.

23/03/2015
How has the LAC prepaid market evolved and what can be learnt from innovative solutions?
Mr. Raul Morales, head of secretariat of the Payments Forum of CEMLA, presented "How has the LAC prepaid market evolved and what can be learnt from innovative solutions?" in the Prepaid Americas Workshop held in occasion of the Mobile Money & Digital Payments Americas 2015 organized by several stakeholders from the payments industry, in Mexico City on 23 March, 2015.

20/03/2015
Behavioral Economics and Personality Psychology
María José Roa, PhD., Senior researcher in economics at this center, gave a presentation on "Behavioral Economics and Personality Psychology: Financial Behaviors and Financial Education" during the 1st Regional Workshop of Financial Education in the Insurance Sector, entitled "A Multidimensional Tool for Inclusive Insurance Expansion into the Region" This workshop was organized by the Guatemalan Association of Insurance Institutions in Guatemala City, on March 20, 2015.

 

2014

28/11/2014
Global Payments Week 2014
The Global Payments Week 2014 took place from September 23th to 26th under the coordination of the Payment Systems Development Group of the World Bank and CEMLA, and with the collaboration of the Bank for International Settlements and the auspices of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. The Global Payments Week is the most relevant meeting organized annually by the Western Hemisphere Payments and Securities Settlement Forum.

13/10/2014
Central Bank Award Rodrigo Gómez
During the last meeting of the Board of Governors, October 9, 2014, based on the recommendation of the panel of judges, decided to declare the Award void. The Board also wants to thank Enrique Alberola, coordinador ejecutivo, from the Dirección General Adjunta de Relaciones Internacionales at Banco de España; Antón Saravia, research professor, at CIDE; Dr. Gabriel Pérez del Peral, director of Economics department at Universidad Panamericana; and Alberto Ortiz, gerente de Investigación Económica at CEMLA, for their help as jury in this edition of the award. Call for papers for the 2015 edition of the Rodrigo Gomez Award is open and we invite the researchers of the region to participate. Additional information is available at: http://www.cemla.org/callforpapers-cbaward.html.

8/09/2014
National Workshop on Sustainable Funding Strategy
From July 21st to 28th, 2014, the Ministry of Finance of Honduras with the support of the Center for Latin American Monetary Studies (CEMLA), through its Public Debt Management Capacity Building Program (PDP), undertook the National Workshop on Sustainable Funding Strategy.

21/07/2014
Contest of research posters for students in economics, 2014
Pursuing promotion of economic research in Latin America and the Caribbean, CEMLA's Research Management has organized the "Contest of research posters for students in economics". The contest consists in presenting a poster based on a research paper carried out by students in economics of academic institutions in Latin America and the Caribbean.

28/04/2014
XCVII Meeting of Central Bank Governors of CEMLA
During the sessions of this meeting held in São Paulo, Brazil, central bank governors addressed the following topics: World Economic Outlook; Topics under Discussion and the Future of the G20; Five Years after Lehman's Collapse: Where are we going to?; Communication Strategies and Monetary Policy Effectiveness in an Exceptional Environment; and Challenges for Monetary Policy in Latin America and the Caribbean. These topics discussion was leaded by some of the governors presented as well as by some special guests. The winner paper of the Rodrigo Gómez Central Bank Award was presented in a special session.

28/04/2014
CEMLA's Board of Governors Meeting
During the CEMLA's Board of Governors Meeting participants discussed about some administrative issues of the Center and the General Direction presented the Activities Report of 2013 as well as the Strategic Plan for the 2014-2019 (first semester) period.

 

2013

3/12/2013
CEMLA and MIF/IDB launch online tool for senders of remittances to Haiti www.transfeayiti.org offers transparency, cost comparisons, and better informed decisions
The Center for Latin American Monetary Studies (CEMLA) and the Multilateral Investment Fund (MIF), a member of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) Group launched www.transfeayiti.org today. This free online tool allows users to compare the costs of sending remittances from the United States or the Dominican Republic to Haiti. In 2012, millions of Haitians living abroad sent a total of usd 1.9 billion in remittances to Haiti. In the United States alone there is estimated to be almost one million people of Haitian origin.

10/10/2013
2013 Rodrigo Gómez Central Bank Award
CEMLA's Board of Governors decided to grant the 2013 Rodrigo Gómez Central Bank Award to Bruno Silva Martins and Ricardo Schechtman, officials from the Banco Central do Brasil, for their study entitled "Loan Pricing Following a Macroprudential within-Sector Capital Measure".

 

2012

21/11/2012
Relaunching of Monetaria
On November 21, 2012, during the XVII Annual Meeting of CEMLA´s Central Bank Researchers Network, a special event was organized to relaunch the Center´s economic journal Monetaria. Several of the papers included in the first issue of this new phase of Monetaria were presented at this event. The contents of this issue was prepared by invited authors who contributed with articles within the topic Lessons from the Financial Crisis for Latin America and the Caribbean. The call for papers for the following issues of Monetaria is now open. Papers can be submitted in Spanish, English or Portuguese, and the journal will be published in identical versions in English and Spanish. Starting with the second number of 2013, the contents of the journal will be selected on the basis of peer review refereeing (double blind).