Press Releases

For immediate release: March 3, 2009

Media Advisory

Access to banks and banking services plays an important role in helping individuals and communities develop pathways out of poverty and toward financial self-sufficiency. The Consumer Banking Conference, sponsored by the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta's Americas Center and hosted by Florida International University's (FIU) College of Business Administration, will explore the impact of access to banking in the United States and Latin America.

The conference will also consider how consumer banking markets can expand safely and soundly with assistance from financial education, regulation and product innovation. Speakers will include Anna Alvarez-Boyd of the Federal Reserve Board of Governors; Manual Orozco of the Inter-American Dialogue; Ellen Seidman of the New America Foundation; Scott Graham of FINCA International; Tova Maria Solo of the World Bank; Rudy Araujo of the Association of Supervisors of Banks in the Americas; and Luke Reynolds of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.

The conference will be held on Wednesday, March 18, 2009, at FIU's Park Campus, College of Business Administration Complex, at 11200 S.W. 8th Street in Miami, Fla.

As part of the nation's central banking system, the Atlanta Fed participates in setting national monetary policy, supervises numerous commercial banks and provides a variety of financial services to depository institutions and the U.S. government. Through the Americas Center initiative, the Atlanta Fed shares best practices and promotes dialogue among academic, supervisory and financial institution representatives to respond to global challenges within banking sectors throughout the Americas.