On Friday, October 8, 2004, the Center for the New Economy, in partnership with the Puerto Rico Bankers Association, hosted a half-day conference entitled: “Financial Services, Asset-Building and Economic Development: New Public Policy Perspectives for Puerto Rico”. The activity was held at the Banker’s Club, located in the Popular Center Building in Hato Rey.The purpose of the conference was to broaden the discussion on the opportunities that exist for addressing the needs of the unbanked population in Puerto Rico in an attempt to promote asset-building and thus stimulate local economic development.A series of panels and presentations were organized and included experts such as Michael Barr, former Deputy Secretary of the U.S.Treasury; Ray Boshara, Director of the Asset-Building Program at New America Foundation and Jennifer Tescher, Director of the Center for Financial Services Innovation.
Conference presentations (in PDF format) can be accessed following the links posted below.
Opening Presentation
- Michael Barr, Banking the Poor
Assets and Public Policy
- Ray Boshara, Assets Policy in Perspective
- Ivanisse Morales, Desarrollo de activos
- Deepak Lamba-Nieves, Asset Poverty and the Welfare System in Puerto Rico
Financial Services and Asset-building
- Jennifer Tescher, From Access to Assets: the Promise of Financial Services for Underbanked Consumers
- Ginoris López-Lay, Banking Low-Income and Unbanked Individuals: Popular Inc./PR Case Study
- Andrés Maldonado, Profitably Serving Low-Income Bank Customers: International Examples
- Elena Manrara, Educación y ejecución: Estrategias para llegar a la población sin relación bancaria en Puerto Rico
- Sergio Marxuach, Building a Nation of Owners: Credit Unions, Financial Access and Asset Building in Puerto Rico