The Chilean Association of Banks and Financial Institutions was founded October 4th, 1945. It includes Chilean banks and financial institutions as well as foreign financial firms that have offices in Chile. As of April 2004 the Association had 36 members: 24 local banks and 12 foreign banks offices representatives.
The Board of Directors has eight members: Hernán Somerville (CorpBanca) Chairman; Luis Enrique Yarur (Banco Crédito Inversiones) First Vice-Chairman; Mauricio Larraín (Banco Santander Santiago) and Fernando Concha (Citibank N.A.) Second Vice-Chairman. Board members are: José Said (BBVA), Pablo Granifo (Banco de Chile), Boris Buvinic (Banco Itaú Chile) and James E. Callahan (Scotiabank Sud Americano). Mr. Alejandro Alarcón is the Chief Executive Officer.
| As stated in its by-laws, the main objectives of this Association are: |
| Promote and strengthen relations among the associates. |
| Maintain relations with similar institutions in other countries and local business community. |
| Study and recommend procedures designed to improve the banking industry's performance as financial intermediates. |
| Study and propose economic measures that allow the banking industry to contribute to the country's development. |
| Establish, operate and maintain services of mutual interest to the members. |
| Represent members in governmental offices and agencies. |
| Sponsor measures that permit affiliates to contribute more efficiently to national prosperity. |
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The Association maintains a staff of dedicated professional employees and support personnel to accomplish these objectives. Member firms also permit their professional staff to form and work actively on the Association's technical committees.
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The existing committees are:
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General Manager's Committee
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Legal Affairs Committee
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Financial Committee
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Bancarization Committee
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Planning and Management Committee
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Basel Committee
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Tax Affairs Committee
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Accountancy Norms Committee
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Anti-Money Laundering Committee
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Operations and Technology Committee
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Comptrollership Committee
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Sub-committee for Computational Audit
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Information's Security Committee
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Foreign Trade Committee
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Human Resources Committee
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Sub-committe for Empowerment
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Financial Risk Committee
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Credit Risk Committee
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Security Committee
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Housing Committee
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Small and Medium Company Committee
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Microenterprise Committee
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OTC Committee
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Foreign Banks Representatives Committee
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The SWIFT User Group
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The Association is a member of the Production and Commerce Confederation. In the international area, it is affiliated with Latin American Banking Federation (Federación Latinoamericana de Bancos, FELABAN) and the Chilean Chapter of the International Chamber of Commerce.
The activities developed by this organization include research studies, projects, detection of problems common to all members, problem solving and permanent analysis of regulations. The Association also manages a computerised information exchange system through its subsidiary SINACOFI, Inc. The management of the National Banking Clearing Chamber (Cámara de Compensación Bancaria Nacional) is one of the most outstanding activities of this company.
In 1996 the Association began to participate in training programs for the financial banking system through the Banking Corporation for Training and Promotion (OTIC).
The Association is an important channel of information and communication among the entities that participate in the Chilean financial system, and represents banks and financial institutions before governmental ministries, departments and agencies.
