AMERICAS CENTER 2006 ANNUAL REVIEW FEDERAL RESERVE BANK OF ATLANTA
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A M E R I C A S C E N T E R 2 0 0 6 A N N U A L R E V I E W
F E D E R A L R E S E R V E B A N K O F AT L A N TA
Americas Center CoordinatorStephen J. KayCoordinator of Latin American AnalysisResearch Department
Steering CommitteeMichael J. ChrisztDirector, International and Regional AnalysisResearch Department
Thomas J. CunninghamVice President and Associate Director of Research
Carolyn HealyAssistant Vice PresidentInternational Banking Supervision
James M. McKeeSenior Vice PresidentRetail Payments Office
Robert SchenckVice PresidentInternational Banking Supervision
LiaisonsJuana Escobedo TeixeiraSenior Financial AnalystLarge Bank Analytics and Support Team
Some members of the Americas Center staff: (seated, left to right) Stephen Kay, Myriam Quispe-Agnoli, Carolyn Healy;
Nancy JaimesDirector Foreign Bank Analysis Team (Miami Branch)
International Banking Supervision
Sandy JuárezFinancial Services Project LeaderDistrict Cash Function OfficeFinancial Services
Jessica LeVeen FarrRegional Community DevelopmentManager (Nashville Branch)Community Affairs
Hal LipseySenior Foreign Banking Organization AnalystInternational Banking Supervision
Elizabeth McQuerryAssistant Vice PresidentRetail Payments OfficeFederal Reserve Financial Services
Robert de ZayasAssistant Vice PresidentBranch Administration (Miami Branch)
(standing, left to right) James McKee, Elizabeth McQuerry, Robert Schenck, Hal Lipsey, Michael Chriszt, Juana Escobedo Teixeira, Thomas Cunningham, Elena Whisler
Americas Center 2006 Annual Review
THE CENTER’S PURPOSEThe Americas Center, launched in 2005, is a cooperative undertak-ing among the Supervision and Regulation, Research, and FinancialServices Divisions of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta. As theeconomies of the states in the Sixth Federal Reserve Districtcontinue to form closer ties with Latin America and the Caribbean,the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta’s relationships in the regionhave expanded as well.
The center provides a framework for collaboration among bankstaff whose responsibilities relate to the Americas and thusenables the bank to more efficiently integrate its resources toserve internal and external audiences through a wide varietyof initiatives. These initiatives include sponsorship of policy con-ferences, analysis of key banking and economic trends in thearea, exchange programs, technical assistance, visitations, andeducational activities.
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MILESTONES
We are pleased to provide a review of the major accomplishments during the
Americas Center’s second year.
Projects, Products, and Programs
The Americas Center Web site, which features research, publications, conferences,
and resource links, had a banner year, receiving 36,111 visits in 2006, its first full
year of operation. Translations of Atlanta Fed articles into Spanish and Portuguese
received 14,330 visits, with a Portuguese translation of an article on China’s eco-
nomic growth receiving 7,138 visits, more than any other EconSouth article online.
The center launched a new Latin America pension reform resource Web page that
lists links to international institutions, supervisory agencies, and country-specific
resources.
A conference on “Pension Reform in the Americas” hosted by the Americas Center
in March brought together the hemisphere’s leading specialists to present research
on the state of pension reform. Among the highlights were keynote presentations
by University of Chicago Nobel laureate economist Robert W. Fogel and Olivia S.
Mitchell of the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School. The conference was
cosponsored with Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de México and the Pension
Research Council of the Wharton School. The organizers are producing an edited
volume that will be published in 2007 by Oxford University Press as part of its
Wharton Pension Research Council series.
Scenes from “Pension Reform in the Americas” and “Concertación Ecuador” conferences
3Americas Center 2006 Annual Review
The Americas Center cosponsored the conference “Latin America Looks East:
Regional Issues, Trends, and Progress in the Global Economy” with the University
of Miami and Florida International University. The November event included speak-
ers from the Institute of International Finance, the University of Miami, Florida
International University, the University of Arizona, the World Bank, BearingPoint
Management and Technology Consultants, the Federal Reserve Board of Governors,
and the Federal Reserve Banks of Atlanta, Dallas, and New York.
An article on Latin American pension reform written by an Atlanta Fed econo-
mist appeared in International Social Security Review, a journal published by
the International Social Security Association in English, French, German,
and Spanish.
New white papers by Supervision and Regulation’s Foreign Banking Organization
staff included “Developments in Consumer Banking in Latin America,” “Lending
Trends in Latin America,” “Bank Secrecy and Anti-Money Laundering Reforms and
Trends in Selected Latin American and Caribbean Countries,” “The Role of Banks
in the Development of Capital Markets in Latin America,” and “Automated Account
Monitoring: A Specialized Approach.” Shorter papers focused on corporative gover-
nance, trade, Basel II, and Latin America and China.
Atlanta Fed economists presented their research on Latin America at numerous
conferences, including the Latin America and Caribbean Economics Association
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meetings in Mexico City; the Latin American Studies Association meetings in
Puerto Rico; and conferences at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro and the
central banks of Ecuador and Peru.
The Americas Center hosted its second annual graduate student dissertation intern.
Economics students competed for the opportunity to spend eight weeks at the bank
doing research and consulting with bank staff.
Foreign Technical Assistance
Supervision and Regulation participated in eighteen foreign technical assistance
training programs in thirteen different countries: Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Chile,
Colombia, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Mexico, Peru,
Spain, and Trinidad and Tobago. Staff members served as instructors for courses
that included bank analysis, interest rate risk management, market risk analysis,
and risk-focused supervision and risk assessment.
Members of Supervision and Regulation’s Foreign Banking Organization team visit with the Colombian Superintendency in Bogotá.
5Americas Center 2006 Annual Review
Business Outreach Initiatives
Members of the Americas Center staff engaged a wide variety of audiences on topics
that included anti-money laundering, foreign banking organization country assess-
ments, currency matters, remittances, and international payment systems.
Supervision and Regulation staff made presentations at the Florida International
Bankers Association’s “Anti-Money Laundering and the Bank Secrecy Act” confer-
ence, Banco de México’s international payments conference, and the Conference
of State Bank Supervisors.
In June the Miami Branch hosted Panamanian Banking Superintendent Delia
Cárdenas, who spoke to members of the regulatory community on consolidated
banking supervision programs, recent enhancements to anti-money laundering
and terrorist financing regulations, and the supervision of parallel-owned banks
in Panama.
Bank analysis and examination school in Peru
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Staff from Supervision and Regulation’s Foreign Banking Organization team visited
Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, and Peru and met with senior
staff from the respective central banks, superintendencies, and foreign banking
organizations to gather information on the economic environment, banking super-
vision, and financial condition of the respective foreign banking organizations. The
team also participated with staff from the Federal Reserve Board of Governors and
the Federal Reserve Bank of New York in a similar visit to Spain.
The Sixth District Cash Function Office staff participated in Federal Reserve
System efforts to formalize business continuity procedures for the Federal
Reserve Bank of New York’s international cash function, and the Miami Branch,
the principal backup office, tested those procedures.
Miami and New Orleans staff, along with representatives from several other
Federal Reserve districts, took part in the System Cash Market Intelligence
Work Group to share intelligence about trends in international currency
deposits and payments from various countries and regions.
Miami Branch staff met with central bankers from Panama, El Salvador, and the
Bahamas to discuss currency and coin issues. Branch staff also met with interna-
tional correspondent officials and various international armored carrier companies.
U.S. Treasurer Anna Escobedo Cabral spoke at the Miami Branch in May to members
of the local community about her inspiring life story and her responsibilities as
Treasurer. Miami Branch officials also hosted senior officers from the central bank
of El Salvador in Washington, D.C., where they met with Treasurer Cabral and Board
7Americas Center 2006 Annual Review
of Governors’ staff. An Atlanta Fed representative also participated in a delegation
to El Salvador that included Treasurer Cabral. The purpose of the trip was to edu-
cate Salvadorans about the new $10 Federal Reserve note. One educational event
at the country’s central bank included 198 sixth-grade students and teachers from
private and public schools.
The Policy and Supervisory Studies Group (PASS) hosted a board member of Mexico’s
Instituto para la Protección al Ahorro Bancario (Bank Deposit Protection Institute).
He attended a disaster recovery forum and presentations by the International Support
Unit and the Consumer Affairs Support Team, who, along with PASS, demonstrated
bank supervision surveillance processes and systems.
The Atlanta Fed hosted the NACHA–Electronic Payments Association’s Institute
for International Payments. Over 100 representatives from financial institutions,
vendors, and other industry groups attended. Sessions included presentations on
describing global payments, FedACH International Services, new requirements for
cross-border ACH payments, foreign exchange and currency principles, liquidity
management, and international trade facilitation.
International Financial Services
The Retail Payments Office (RPO), a division of Federal Reserve Financial
Services, carried out several initiatives in 2006 designed to promote more efficient
cross-border payment options for financial institutions and their customers. These
initiatives featured financial education and promotional activities in support of the
Directo a MéxicoSM transfer program, a partnership with Banco de México, and new
initiatives on the FedACH International® Canada Service.
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In June the RPO cosponsored the conference “Crossing the Border: Financial Access,
Remittances, and Directo a México” in Mexico City with the Ministry of Foreign
Relations’ Institute for Mexicans Abroad and Banco de México. Speakers included rep-
resentatives from Mexico’s Ministry of Finance, Banco de México, consumer organiza-
tions, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), the Federal Reserve Bank
of Atlanta Community Affairs Office, the Inter-American Dialogue, Banco del Ahorro
Nacional y Servicios Financieros (Bansefi), Mexico’s Consumer Defense Organization,
Mexican commercial banks, and U.S. financial institutions offering Directo a México.
The RPO collaborated with Bansefi on their effort to foster the use of bank
accounts for sending and receiving remittances from the United States to Mexico.
Their new Web site, called the “Beneficiary Account Registration,” allows partici-
pating U.S. financial institutions to preopen a bank account at any Bansefi branch
throughout Mexico. Once the account owner formalizes the new account with
proper identification, the account can be used not only to receive more affordable
remittances but also to help build a credit history and gain access to other needed
financial services in Mexico.
The RPO and Banco de México cosponsored the second and final year of the
“Directo a México Roadshow.” The eleven-city tour featured informational meetings
for interested financial institutions in California, Illinois, New Mexico, and Texas.
During the roadshow events, staff from the FDIC as well as the Community Affairs
and Supervision and Regulation areas at the Federal Reserve Banks of Atlanta,
Chicago, Dallas, and San Francisco made key presentations on the regulatory and
compliance aspects of cross-border transfers.
The RPO selected Canada’s Bank of Nova Scotia, or Scotiabank, as the new
Canadian gateway operator for its FedACH International Canada Service. The
new partnership with Scotiabank also brings important new operational and service
enhancements to the Canada Service for participating financial institutions.
Staff from the RPO gave conference presentations to a variety of industry groups,
including the Consumer Bankers’ Association Hispanic Forum; the International
9Americas Center 2006 Annual Review
Payments System Conference sponsored by Cecoban, Banco de México, and the
Association of Mexican Banks; the Credit Union National Association Payments Forum;
the National Federation of Community Development Credit Union’s Latino Community
Credit Union Conference; and the FDIC’s Minority-Owned Bank Conference.
Community Outreach and Education
The Community Affairs Office continued its outreach and education initiatives
on remittances and improving access to financial services to the unbanked
and immigrant populations. Community Affairs staff in Miami gave a presenta-
tion on remittances and access to financial services at the International
Consumer’s Forum in Coral Gables. Staff in the Atlanta office, in cooperation
with the FDIC-Atlanta Region and the Mexican Consulate in Atlanta, hosted
three informational meetings covering topics such as identification documents,
A Community Affairs presentation on managing money
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remittance products (Directo a México), and Hispanic entrepreneurship
in Georgia.
After having helped launch the New Alliance Task Force-Georgia in 2005, the
Community Affairs Office continued to assist the task force’s efforts to improve
access to financial services for immigrant populations throughout the state.
Community Affairs staff in Nashville, in partnership with staff from the Federal Reserve
Bank of St. Louis Community Affairs and the FDIC, hosted two workshops titled
“Remittances and Financial Services for Immigrants” in Nashville and Memphis.
The half-day workshops were attended by representatives of approximately forty
banks and credit unions from middle and west Tennessee.
The Community Affairs Office continued to promote its new brochure titled A Guide
to Your First Bank Account, which introduces consumers to the benefits of using a
A Community Affairs presentation on how to prepare financially for natural disasters
11Americas Center 2006 Annual Review
bank and provides general information on opening a bank account. The brochures
have been shared with government agencies, banks, nonprofits, and Community
Affairs staff across the Federal Reserve System.
LOOKING AHEAD
Although an annual review cannot capture all of our activities throughout the past
year, we have highlighted our most significant projects, products, programs, and
initiatives in 2006. These achievements demonstrate the cooperation by committed
people from throughout our organization, often partnering with colleagues from a
number of other institutions.
In 2007 we intend to further expand the scope of the Americas Center’s activities
related to the Web site, topical papers, education, and services to a growing Spanish-
speaking immigrant population, as well as various training and outreach initiatives.
We welcome your input on building an even more successful Americas Center.
Front cover: Myriam Quispe-Agnoli speaking at the“Concertación Ecuador” conference in Quito, EcuadorBack cover: Business district, Bogotá, Colombia
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