A M E R I C A S C E N T E R A N N U A L R E V I E W

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1 A M E R I C A S C E N T E R A N N U A L R E V I E W

2 Americas Center 2005 Annual Review The Center s Purpose The Americas Center, launched in 2005, is a cooperative undertaking among the Supervision and Regulation, Research, and Financial Services Divisions of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta. A vehicle for collaboration among bank staff whose responsibilities relate to the Americas, the center is a means for the bank to serve regional, national, and international audiences through a wide variety of outreach initiatives. Our Role As the economies of the states in the Sixth Federal Reserve District have forged closer links with Latin America and the Caribbean, the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta s ties with the region have expanded commensurately. Our endeavors over the years to serve this constituency reached a milestone in 2005 with the establishment of the Americas Center. Internally, the Americas Center provides a framework in which bank staff can engage cross-functionally in collaborative and interdepartmental work related to this important, growing part of the world. Externally, the Americas Center provides an umbrella for the bank s various activities that relate to the region. Our primary vehicles for reaching the public are our people and our Web site. The Web site includes original research, speeches, and presentations on topics including cross-border remittances, foreign correspondent banking, and structural reforms as well as information links on subjects such as supervisory letters related to international banking, remittances, and anti money laundering programs. Some of the site s content is available in Spanish and Portuguese, and the site s multilingual content is increasing. The public can contact the center s coordinator and liaisons via the Web site with questions or matters needing follow-up.

3 2 Structure Americas Center Coordinator Stephen J. Kay Coordinator of Latin American Analysis Research Department Steering Committee Michael J. Chriszt Director, International and Regional Analysis Research Department Thomas J. Cunningham Vice President and Associate Director of Research James M. McKee Senior Vice President Retail Payments Office Robert Schenck Vice President International Banking Supervision Carolyn Healy Assistant Vice President International Banking Supervision Some members of the Americas Center staff: (left to right) James McKee, Thomas Cunningham,

4 Americas Center 2005 Annual Review 3 Liaisons Nancy Jaimes Senior Foreign Banking Organization Analyst (Miami Branch) Supervision and Regulation Sandy Juárez Financial Services Project Leader District Cash Function Office Financial Services Jessica LeVeen Farr Regional Community Development Manager (Nashville Branch) Community Affairs Hal Lipsey Senior Foreign Banking Organization Analyst Supervision and Regulation Elizabeth McQuerry Assistant Vice President Retail Payments Office Federal Reserve Financial Services Robert de Zayas Assistant Vice President Branch Administration (Miami Branch) Stephen Kay, Robert Schenck, Elena Whisler, Michael Chriszt, Myriam Quispe-Agnoli

5 4 Milestones We are pleased to provide a review of the accomplishments during the Americas Center s inaugural year. Projects, Products, and Programs The Americas Center was announced and the Web site was launched in June. Noteworthy initiatives in supervision include increasing engagement with the Association of Latin American Bank Supervisors (ASBA); expanded partnership with the Federal Reserve Bank of New York in the coverage of Spain and supervision of the growing Spanish bank presence in the United States, primarily in Miami and New York; more involvement in selected supervisory-related opportunities in Brazil, Argentina, and Mexico; and an enhanced supervisory focus on operational and compliance risks, in particular, Bank Secrecy Act/anti money laundering practices. Research department staff teamed with World Bank staff to conduct a survey on credit scoring systems in Latin America. At the Latin America and Caribbean Economics Association annual meetings in Paris in October, Atlanta Fed economists served as discussants on a panel titled Foreign Banks in Emerging Economies and presented papers on the role of capital in the increased demand for skilled labor in Peru and on the effects of pass-through of the exchange rate on domestic prices. The Supervision and Regulation Foreign Banking Organization group completed three noteworthy discussion papers: The Levels of Public Debt Held by Banks in Argentina, Brazil, and Venezuela, The Effects of Privatization of Pension Plans on Financial and Regulatory Systems in Latin America, and Corporate Governance Practices in Latin America. An Atlanta Fed economist served as a peer reviewer for the ASBA publication Banking Sector Development and Regulation.

6 Americas Center 2005 Annual Review 5 Community Affairs representatives provided translation assistance to other Federal Reserve Banks, including the translation of subtitles into Spanish for a video produced by the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia titled Buried in Debt: The Dangers of Borrowing. The online Portuguese translation of an EconSouth article on China received nearly 1,000 hits the fourth-highest readership of any EconSouth article in Foreign Technical Assistance Supervision and Regulation staff members participated in ten foreign technical assistance training programs in several Latin American countries, including Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Mexico, Peru, and Uruguay. Topics included bank analysis and examinations; fundamentals of interest rate risk management; risk-focused supervision and risk assessment; internal controls; credit and market risk analysis; and anti money laundering examinations.

7 6 The Miami Cash Services officer assisted the Board of Governors in educating Latin American markets about the redesigned $10 note released in March Input was provided in Spanish-language customer communications materials, media interviews, and training seminars abroad during the unveiling of the $10 note s redesign in December. Broad Outreach Initiatives: Adding Business Value and Building Relationships The Sixth District Cash Function Office hosted an international contingency summit in New Orleans in April to discuss the creation of business continuity arrangements for international cash distribution from Federal Reserve Banks. Standard procedures were developed for backup Federal Reserve Bank offices that would make payments to accept deposits from international customers if the Federal Reserve Bank of New York were unable to do so in a crisis. The Americas Center cosponsored the Toward Better Banking in Latin America research conference with the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) in Washington, D.C. The conference was held in September at the IDB headquarters. Miami Branch staff met with central bankers from the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, the Bahamas, Colombia, Costa Rica, and Mexico to discuss currency and coin issues. Branch staff also met with international correspondent officials and various international armored carrier companies. Above: Scenes from the Foreign Banking Organization s visit to Spain

8 Americas Center 2005 Annual Review 7 An International Town Hall meeting was held at the Miami Branch in June to discuss counterfeiting in Latin America. Representatives from international banks and armored carriers, as well as the Board of Governors, the Sixth District Cash Function Office, and the Miami Cash department, were in attendance. The Americas Center established key contacts with counterparts from Florida International University s Latin American and Caribbean Studies/Summit of the Americas Center, the University of Miami s Center for Hemispheric Policy, and the Bank for International Settlement s Americas Office. Ties with Emory University, Georgia Tech, Georgia State University, and Kennesaw State University were strengthened through the Atlanta Area Latin American Specialists meeting at the Atlanta Fed. Brazil s Social Security Minister and five top staffers met with Research Department staff and corporate officers in February to discuss social security reform and information technology. For two months during the fall, the Americas Center hosted an attorney from the Bolivian Superintendency of Banking, who visited the bank through the U.S. government s American Fellows Program, which sponsors exchanges among outstanding civil servants in the Americas. The Americas Center hosted its first annual graduate dissertation intern. Students from North America competed for the opportunity to spend eight weeks at the bank doing dissertation research and consulting with bank staff. This year s fellow published his research as an Atlanta Fed working paper. Above: Scenes from a Latin America Research Group conference

9 8 In September the Atlanta Fed s First Vice President Pat Barron visited Chile, where he delivered a speech titled Responding to the Change in U.S. and Global Payments to an audience of 100 members of Chile s financial community. The senior officer in charge of Supervision and Regulation s international area delivered the speech Money Laundering and Anti Money Laundering Legislation: The Economic Impact to the Mexican Banking Association Annual Meeting in October in Mexico City. Focused Outreach Initiatives: Offering Value-Added Services to the Growing Hispanic Community The Retail Payments Office and Banco de México improved the delivery time for funds transferred through the FedACH International SM Mexico Service by reducing the processing from two days to one business day. Funds are now received by the beneficiary in Mexico on the next business day after they are originated in the United States.

10 Americas Center 2005 Annual Review 9 The Retail Payments Office and the Banco de México launched the Directo a México SM promotional campaign. Directo a México SM is a series of Spanishlanguage marketing materials designed to help U.S. financial institutions increase their share of the rapidly growing remittance market by encouraging the use of FedACH International SM Mexico Service for low-cost, bank-to-bank transfers between the United States and Mexico. The Retail Payments Office and Banco de México completed a sixteen-city road show to promote Directo a México SM to U.S. financial institutions. The promotional tour was a collaborative effort with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), the Mexican Consulates in the United States, and the local representatives of the Instituto de los Mexicanos en el Exterior (IME). The Atlanta Fed s Community Affairs team contributed to the road show presentations in several cities in California, Georgia, and Texas.

11 10 The bank s Community Affairs team worked jointly with the Federal Reserve Board to produce a paper titled Banking on Remittances: Increasing Market Efficiencies for Consumers and Financial Institutions, which analyzed the financial needs of immigrants and their use of banks and credit unions. The paper was presented at the biannual Federal Reserve System Research Conference in Washington, D.C., in April. Staff from the Retail Payments Office (RPO) made two presentations, Opportunities and Obstacles for Banks in the Remittance Market and Clearing the Path to Hemispheric Growth: Expanding Credit to Create Jobs and Alleviate Poverty at a Florida International University conference in June. The RPO staff also presented Brave New World: Financial Institutions and Remittances to Mexico at the Multilateral Investment Fund/Inter-American Development Bank International Forum on Remittances in June in Washington, D.C. The Community Affairs team and the FDIC sponsored a forum in Atlanta in August on Connecting Immigrant Markets to Financial Services that explored innovative banking strategies to better serve the Hispanic population. A follow-up meeting was held in Gainesville, Georgia, in December. The Community Affairs team completed a bilingual informational brochure for individuals opening their first bank account. A Guide to Your First Bank Account is meant to assist individuals who have never had a bank account, including new immigrants. A Research Department economist presented Public Policy, Immigration, and Other Legal Issues at the conference Finding Solutions: Latinos and Socioeconomic Development in the Southeast at the University of Georgia in June.

12 Americas Center 2005 Annual Review 11 Looking Ahead While an annual review cannot reflect all of an organization s activities in the course of the year, we have highlighted our most significant projects, products, programs, and initiatives in These outstanding contributions were the result of a cooperative effort by many committed people. In 2006 we intend to expand the scope of Americas Center s activities related to the Web site, topical papers, education, and services to an increasing Spanishspeaking immigrant population, ASBA projects, and various training and external outreach initiatives. We welcome your input on enhancing initiatives and building an even more successful Americas Center.

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