Microfinanzas BBVA Foundation

Latin America has been adapting its regulatory legislation, reinforcing its supervisory capacity and undertaking processes for the inclusion of institutions that provide financial services, especially credit, to microenterprises. In this sense, it is a benchmark region on the global stage.

This adaptation of the regulatory framework addressed through the creation of a type of institution, NBFIs, has led to the appearance of a large number of successful examples, amongst which are the private financial funds, Fondos Financieros Privados, in Bolivia (Caja los Andes, now Banco Procredit, FIE or PRODEM), the development banks Bancos de Desarrollo in Venezuela (Bangente or Bancrecer), EDPYMES, Cajas Rurales or Cajas Municipales in Peru, SOCAP and Uniones de Crédito in Mexico, etc.

The financial cooperative sector is also making progress in the inclusion of existing institutions under a specific regulation and with supervision under the responsibility of the superintendences of the financial system or central banks depending on each country. Ecuador, Mexico and El Salvador are some examples in which the authorities have committed to these processes. Other countries, such as Colombia, are for the time being keeping the majority of their cooperative institutions under the supervision of a body that is responsible for the cooperative sector as a whole, and only some of these institutions fall within the responsibility of the financial superintendence.