Banking Crises in Latin America : Experience and Issues

This paper argues that the experiences with banking crises in Latin America have been different from those in the industrial world because of the peculiarities of Latin American financial systems. Hence, applying the lessons derived from crisis resolution in the industrial world is not sufficient to deal with banking problems in the region; it must be augmented by the unique experiences of Latin American regulators if future crises in the region are to be managed or avoided. Section II discusses the features of Latin American financial systems that distinguish them from those in the industrial world. Section III discusses how the fragility of these systems contributes to the relative severity of banking crises in the region. The evidence in Section IV suggests that while crises have occurred under both policy regimes, highly regulated regimes have been characterized by a greater volatility in financial markets than more liberal policy environments. Section V considers the phenomenon that often supervisors in Latin America rely more heavily on reserve requirements than on supervision of individual banks to control the growth of risky bank credit. Because high reserve requirements impose costs on both strong and weak banks, these measures should be applied only until the conditions for strong supervision are present. Section VI discusses some policy options for reducing financial market fragility