As the senior officer for the International Supervision and Consumer Compliance department, I am a true believer in the importance of maintaining open dialogue and communications, specifically related to understanding the connection between events and conditions in the Sixth District, the Americas, and our global economy. The Atlanta Fed's Americas Center provides our staff with a unique opportunity to gather information and to collaborate among the various functions within the Atlanta Fed. The goal is to develop well-balanced and more holistic views about current economic, political, and financial conditions throughout the Americas and globally.
The Americas Center had an outstanding year in 2014. This Annual Review provides a summary of some of the center's major outreach activities and accomplishments throughout the year.
Following are examples of the center's activities that impacted the critical emerging policy and regulatory areas of vital interest to our Bank's mission:
- The Retail Payments Office continued to work toward expanding the global reach of the FedACH, through discussions with central banks in the Western hemisphere and also pursuing global partnerships that would provide worldwide access.
- The Sixth District International Cash Unit pursued its goal of leadership in international cash services through significant contributions to System risk management efforts. This was in collaboration with the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, the Board of Governors, and the global banknote dealers.
- The Americas Center pursued economic and monetary research on key hemispheric policy challenges, through workshops on new research in international economics with partner universities.
- The Bank's International Supervision department leveraged thought leadership to increase the effectiveness of supervision of financial institutions. The department hosted an outreach forum at the Miami Branch in conjunction with the Florida International Bankers Association (FIBA) on South Florida International Economy and the Latin America Outlook, and Implementation of the Enhanced Prudential Standards–Section 165 of the Dodd-Frank Act.
In 2014, the Americas Center worked with the Atlanta Fed, the Federal Reserve System, and public and private stakeholders and external partners to provide leadership in key supervisory, financial, and economic matters related to the Americas and Spain. In 2015, the Americas Center will continue to build on this foundation.