Country Awards for Excellence 2015: Latin America

This year will see an end to the Kirchner residency in Argentina’s presidential palace, the Casa Rosada. As domestic – and international investors – await the end of an era that has lasted since 2003, hopes are high that Argentina will embark on a path of economic and financial orthodoxy. Re-integration with the financial markets is widely expected and hoped for, as are a bounce in the domestic economy, and improved financial flows and asset prices.

Domestic banks will be hoping that such anticipation is not unrealistic, but there will probably be more sober expectations for the speed of change. Many CEOs would be forgiven for prioritizing a desire for normalization in banking regulation – in recent years the central bank has become increasingly prescriptive on risk allocations of banks’ portfolios, as well as limits to fees and other operational controls.