Latin American Capital Markets

480 CATHERINE CHANDLER-CRICHLOWThe current status of human capital development and the growth in physicalinfrastructure of the capital markets in the region point to the need for the powersthat be in Latin America and the Caribbean to strengthen the human facets of thesector To subordinate human capacity development to investment in business infrastructurein emerging economies by default also puts a secondary emphasis on thelong-term development of capital markets in the region.A ProcessThe linguistic, cultural, political, and economic diversity in Latin America and the Caribbeancreates a mosaic that is evident not only in its peoples but also in the financialdevelopment of the region. It is necessary to be cognizant of these differences in buildingan integrated model for developing the region. Such a model could best be conceptualizedas a tiered curriculum that provides programs for the hierarchical levels ofprofessions as well as cross-pollination on areas of common need across professionalgroups. A human capital development process would include four components.First, it would include determining the needs of key market participants. Tobuild an efficient capital market sector, stockbrokers, analysts, investors, regulators, policymakers,and other actors all require knowledge to make them effective. A first stepwould be to identify the specific themes that each group needs to help it function asa market participant.Technocrats with weak problem solving, decisionmaking, or analyticalthinking competencies are no better than uninformed leaders.The real opportunitythat exists in Latin America and the Caribbean is to combine strong technicaland operational knowledge with strong leadership competencies. A frequent mistakein the establishment of any new sector-based curriculum is to place an inordinate emphasison technical and operational training programs with little or no attention givento the development of behavioral competencies. A balanced curriculum would integratethe two components.Second, human capital development would require identifying current regionalresources. A key step in building a sectorwide training and development modelwould be to conduct an in-depth inventory of technical and operational courses inthe region.This would be a step toward optimization of existing materials and the developmentof new curricula based on themes common across a number of professionalgroups. For example, regulators across the region could all benefit from programsthat cover areas such as market manipulation, insider trading, or the fight againstmoney laundering. At the domestic level, the same regulators could benefit from participatingjointly with policymakers, brokers, or issuers in seminars on the impact ofCopyright © by the Inter-American Development Bank. All rights reserved.For more information visit our website: www.iadb.org/pub