Forum of FINTECH Experts

The Forum will have, at least, an annual plenary session and in addition, the members of the Forum will determine the need to keep periodic communications by remote means. This will depend on particular activities and/or extraordinary matters that concern the membership.

To achieve its mandate, the Forum will be able to set up task forces for the analysis and discussion of priority issues. Each of these groups will be coordinated by a Forum's member who will be appointed in plenary session. Besides the members of the Forum, each task force may also include representatives from CEMLA Associate Members without an institutional participation, non-regional central banks or other international relevant organizations. The work resulting from these groups will be presented to the membership in plenary sessions or any other means, accordingly.

As for the plenary sessions or related events, experts who are not members to the Forum, may be invited with the aim of enriching the debate and experience exchange.

In general, the activities of the Forum will be, but may be different to, the following:

  • Preparing technical reports about the analysis, assessments and other joint activities of the membership or any of their task forces, with the aim of providing guidance and references of interest to support the institutional strategy of region's central banking in terms of financial technologies.

  • Disseminating the knowledge and experiences generated by the joint activities of the Forum, among the region's and the international community in the activities that CEMLA, in its role of the Secretariat, or any of the members deem pertinent.

  • Acting as the region's central bank coordinating body in FinTech issues and, consequently, be responsible of an effective communication with other authorities and existing groups and forums at international and regional levels, with the aim of ensuring the consistency of the work of the Forum with that of the international financial agenda.

  • Keep the Central Banks' Governors of Latin America and the Caribbean regularly informed about matters stemming from the Forum's activities that merit attention.

 

Performed activities

The great impact that emerging technologies and agents have in finance, bring in turn significant implications and challenges for traditional mandates of a central bank. The potential of this new reality, known as the FinTech phenomenon, has highlighted the evident and urgent need to acknowledge, understand and accept the changing and challenging landscape that financial authorities face.

To deal with this and responding to a request by its Membership, 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*.

Objectives

The mandate of the Forum is to disseminate and share best practices, experiences and knowledge of experts from different areas of specialization within the region's central bank community, in order to contribute to the analysis and assessment of the interaction of new financial technologies with monetary and financial stability. Special emphasis is paid to the design, functioning, regulation and surveillance of said technologies.
In particular, the Forum will focus in analyzing:

  • FinTech implications for the development, structure and functioning of financial markets (business models, agents and services, and arrangements and infrastructures).

  • FinTech implications for policy development and practices related to financial regulation and supervision, currency, payment systems and infrastructures, cybersecurity, among other responsibilities of central banks.

The Forum has the vocation to monitor priority issues and properly keep informed the Central Banks' Governors of Latin America and the Caribbean on matters that may merit their attention.

* CEMLA presented the initiative to establish the Forum of FINTECH Experts to its Board of Governors and Assembly of Central Banks' Governors of Latin America and the Caribbean on October 12, 2017.

The Forum is a regional initiative of CEMLA that is primarily aimed at the (voluntary) participation of the Center's associated central banks.

The Forum is composed of senior officials appointed by the authorities of each central bank as institutional members. The members are from the technical areas that are relevant to each central bank around the FinTech phenomenon, including regulation and financial stability, supervision, payment systems, markets, IT, legal aspects, mainly.

The members of the Forum are responsible for being active in the agenda and related activities, and for coordinating within their respective institutions the different aspects that may be necessary for an effective institutional participation. As a result, the Forum's members will act as contact and coordinating point for tasks and activities agreed upon.

To ensure the continuity of the activities, the Forum will have a permanent Secretariat hosted by CEMLA. The main responsibility of the Secretariat is the communication and sustainability of all the activities around the Forum, as well as the support to the task forces and related activities of the Forum. Among its main functions, the Secretariat will:

  • Support the Plenary in monitoring the agenda and activities of the Forum;

  • Promote relevant linking and disseminating work in international fora, and will encourage a coordinated work within the region to avoid duplication of efforts;

  • Coordinate with other technical groups hosted by CEMLA* any relevant and related issue for the Forum's agenda and activities

  • Provide support and/or organize meetings, conferences and other Forum's related events;

  • Encouraging proper dissemination and visibility of the Forum's work, including good practices, recommendations, that the membership deems opportune to make public in CEMLA channels.

The Forum will be governed by the Plenary, all members, that will be responsible for agreeing the priorities and the general strategy of the Forum in accordance with the interests and needs of the membership. The Plenary, with the support of the Secretariat, will also be responsible for:

  • Displaying an effective cooperation in the agenda and related activities;

  • Monitoring the development of the Forum's agenda and activities;

  • Preserving a continuous communication with the Secretariat; and

  • Encouraging proper dissemination and visibility of the Forum's work in relevant fora.

In addition to its institutional members, experts from other institutions, both public and private, regional or international, or additional experts may be invited to the Forum in the capacity of observers or advisors. These contributors may be temporary or permanent, depending on the nature, affinity or type of their participation. The Plenary will decide on this, with the support of the Secretariat.

Any organizational amendment of the Forum will be decided by mutual agreement by the Plenary and the Secretariat.

 

* CEMLA host about twenty groups of experts in central banking technical areas. These groups provide a forum for discussion of issues of common interest and ranges from monetary policy, international reserves, payment systems, IT, cybersecurity to treasury and other central bank areas.

  • Banco Central de la República Argentina
    Julio Pando
    Pablo García

  • Central Bank of Barbados
    Michelle Doyle-Lowe

  • Banco Central de Bolivia
    Patricia Mendez

  • Banco Central do Brasil
    Antonio Marcos Fonte Guimarães

  • Banco Central de Chile
    Pablo Furche

  • Banco de la República (Colombia)
    Joaquín Bernal

  • Banco Central de Costa Rica
    Pablo Villalobos

  • Centrale Bank  van Curacao En Sint Maarten
    Roy Everts
    Janilla Arias

  • Eastern Caribbean Central Bank
    Allister Hodge

  • Banco Central del Ecuador
    Melida Castro
    Jorge Barrera

  • Banco Central de Reserva de El Salvador
    Otto Rodriguez

  • Banco de España
    Carlos Conesa
    José Manuel Marqués

  • Banco Central de Honduras
    Silvia López Bardales

  • Bank of Jamaica
    Natalie Haynes
    Novelette Panton

  • Banco de México
    Fabrizio Lopez-Gallo Dey
    Alberto Romero
    Rafael Morales

  • Banco Central de Reserva del Perú
    Jose Luis Vasquez

  • Banco Central de la República Dominicana
    Fabiola Herrera
    Armando Manzueta

  • Central Bank of Trinidad and Tobago
    Michelle Francis-Pantor
    Leslie-Ann Des Vignes

  • Banco Central del Uruguay
    Jorge Ponce

  • CEMLA (Secretariat)
    Serafín Martínez-Jaramillo