Download SIUDY_SESSION_4_PresentationSouth_Bank

Building An Alternative
The South Bank and New Regional
Financial Architecture
A New Financial System
• South Bank
• Regional Stabilization Fund
• Regional monetary system
– Other initiatives:
• Withdrawal from ICSID
• Debt Audit
• Other initiatives - ALBA Bank,
Petrocaribe
Why another development bank?
• Possibility to finally achieve political
independence and financial autonomy from IFIs
and North;
• Recover sovereignty (state and peoples);
• Stop transfer of resources from South to North;
• Change balance of power;
• Promote integration based on solidarity,
complementarity and to overcome asymmetries.
What is at stake?
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Transparency and civil society participation;
What development to be financed;
Volume of resources;
Decision-making structure;
Management;
Sources of capital;
Member countries.
What is at stake?
• Finance mega
infrastructure and
agrofuels?
• Same volume of capital or
more capital more power?
• One dollar- one vote?
• Immunity for bank
officials and private docs.;
• Bonds; IFIs; other banks
and governments.
• Food and energy
sovereignty, local infrastructure…;
• Capital according to size
of economy;
• One country - one vote;
• No immunity, public
docs., external audits…;
• International reserves,
global taxes and
donations.
The South Bank today
• Lauched Dec. 9th 2007;
• Offices in Venezuela, Argentina & Bolivia;
• Capital:
– Authorized capital: US$ 20 billion
– Subscribed capital: US$ 7 billion (now US$ 10 billion);
– Capital allocated on a basis of three groups of countries,
considering their GDP: US$ 2 billion Brazil, Argentina
& Venezuela; US$ 400 million Ecuador & Uruguay
(10) & US$ 100 million Paraguay & Bolivia;
• A minimum of 20% paid-up share (10% of which can be
in local currencies) in five and ten years.
Decision-Making Structure
• “South-American integration should constitute for the
people of the region, a space consecrated for the promotion
of economic and social development, the reduction of
assymmetries, poverty and social exclusion, towards the
convergence and complementarity of the economic
integration processes” and that the “organs that direct the
South Bank will have an equal representation of each of
the member South-American countries, based on a
democratic operational system”.
Challenges:
• Continue struggling against IFIs;
• Ownership over Southern initiatives:
– Participate during all decision-making processes;
– Avoid substituting Northern capitalists with Southern
capitalists that respond to the same Northern interests;
– Overcome sub-imperialism (instrument of North) and
reproduction of model and IFIs policies (ie: BNDES
and mega infra-structure projects where environment
and peoples are considered obstacles);
– Better define what we mean by a new financial system;
– Better define how we want to participate.
• Reflect on non-capitalist initiatives considering
that debt and profits are at the heart of the system.