Mario Marcel: Basel III in the context of the macroprudential approach

Opening remarks by Mr Mario Marcel, Governor of the Central Bank of Chile, at the CBC-IADB Joint Workshop on "Basel III in the Context of the Macroprudential Approach", Santiago, 29 March 2019.

The views expressed in this speech are those of the speaker and not the view of the BIS.

Good morning and welcome to the "Basel III in the Context of the Macroprudential Approach" workshop which is co-organized by the Central Bank of Chile and the Inter-American Development Bank.

It is a pleasure to host this event in Santiago, at a very appropriate timing. After a year and a half of legislative discussion, on January 12th of this year, the new General Banking Law was enacted. This is the most significant change to solvency regulations since 1986, setting the basis for the implementation of the Basel III framework in Chile.

A second reason goes back 35 years. In a few more days, the Central Bank will receive the last repayment of the subordinated debt originated in the rescue of the Chilean financial system of the early 1980s. It has been a long way since this episode, and the fact that only now can we finally put it behind us, highlights the importance of doing everything in our reach to prevent the occurrence of major financial disruptions.

Allow me to go briefly over the history of the Chilean financial system over the last five decades, and how regulation has reacted and evolved over time.