Assessing Financial Access In Brazil

Access to financial services in Brazil has been relatively stable over the past ten years, despite the banking sector contraction of the late 1990s. Wide geographic variations in the supply of banking services by region and municipality are partly explained by differentials in income and population density. On a cross-country basis, Brazil does not appear to be underbanked. Looking at the use of financial services by different groups of consumers in Brazil, differences in financial access across regions is confirmed, but differences among richer and poorer neighborhoods can be as important. Public financial institutions in Brazil, deemed to be socially responsible, appear to have served disadvantaged groups more than private banks on some measures and for some services. However, their role varies by type of service, and in the case of some services, public banks in fact may have better served the better-off groups. At the level of individuals, the most important determinants of access to financial services are socio-economic characteristics such a income, wealth, and education. This may signify that in the presence of asymmetric information, access to such services depends critically on client information, and such characteristics provide a proxy for creditworthiness.

Introduction -- The supply of bank services: branches and service points -- Users of financial services: a survey of urban individuals -- Analysis of survey results: what explains access? -- Summary of findings and policy implications.

Since the Brazil 2012 FSAP, the financial system has been stable despite the deep recession. The resiliency of the banking system was supported by high profitability, buoyed by large interest margins. While the financial system has grown since the 2012 FSAP, its structure remains largely unchanged. The system is dominated by large, vertically-integrated financial conglomerates and concentrated in liquid short-term instruments. The public sector continues to play a dominant role in the financial sector, and its interconnectedness. Banks are broadly resilient to severe macrofinancial shocks. Current high profits and capital ratios support the resiliency of banks under a severe stress test scenario. Under the stress scenario, small capital shortfalls result; banks would nevertheless experience reduced income, including from market loss on government bonds, and high credit losses on exposures to the corporate sector which, despite recent improvement, is still vulnerable to shocks. This benign outcome deteriorates if their capital is adjusted for deferred tax assets. Moreover, some banks are exposed to concentration risk. Some actions are still needed to address bank-specific risk profiles to boost their resilience. Banks are generally well-positioned to manage short-term and medium-term liquidity pressures and interbank contagion seems limited.

'Enterprise Size, Financing Patterns, and Credit Constraints in Brazil' investigates the importance of firm size with respect to accessing credit. The principal findings are that size strongly affects access to credit compared to firm performance, and other factors, such as management education, location or the industrial sector to which the firm belongs. Additional findings are that the impact of size on access to credit is greater for longer term loans and that public financial institutions are more likely to lend to large firms. Finally, financial access constraints may have a less significant differential impact across firms of different sizes than other constraints, though cost of finance as a constraint is very important.

The paper discusses the stability of Brazil's financial system, which is diversified and shows sustained economic progress. Fiscal and monetary policies have been aimed to improve bank reserves, and foreign exchange intervention has been streamlined to curb volatility in the exchange market. These measures have been effective in achieving the immediate targets, maintaining macroeconomic stability, and ensuring adequate financial sector buffers. However, there are indications of emerging strains in some sectors and asset classes.

Investigates the importance of firm size with respect to accessing credit. The principal findings are that size strongly affects access to credit compared to firm performance, and other factors, such as management education, location or the industrial sector to which the firm belongs. Additional findings are that the impact of size on access to credit is greater for longer term loans and that public financial institutions are more likely to lend to large firms. Finally, financial access constraints may have a less significant differential impact across firms of different sizes than other constraints, though cost of finance as a constraint is very important.

Brazilian FMIs are among the top twenty worldwide. All together there are sixteen financial market infrastructures2 (FMIs) operating in the Brazilian payment system (SPB), out of which nine3 are systemically important and four belong to the top twenty FMIs in the world4. FMIs play an essential role in the Brazilian financial system and are highly relevant in terms of domestic financial stability. In terms of value of transactions, STR (Reserves Transfer System - Sistema de Transferência de Reservas), the Brazilian Real Time Gross Settlement system (RTGS) is the backbone of the SPB, and belongs to the top ten large value payment systems worldwide. SELIC is among the top ten central securities depository/securities settlement systems (CSD/SSSs), CETIP among the top twenty SSSs, and BM&FBOVESPA Clearinghouse, the largest central counterparty (CCP) in Latin America, belongs to the top ten. These infrastructures facilitate the clearing, settlement, and recording of monetary and other financial transactions, such as payments, securities, and derivatives contracts (including derivatives contracts for commodities). Brazilian post-trading services are integrated. The entities providing securities settlement services also provide other post-trade processing, acting both as a clearing house, and a CSD or as a trade repository (TR).

Brazil has a large and diverse investments funds sector which is subject to a robust regulatory framework. The competent authority, the Comissão de Valores Mobiliários (CVM), requires high standards of the entities it oversees and makes good use of the extensive data it receives from market participants on an ongoing basis. Fiduciary administrators play an important role as the main gatekeeper for investment funds and, despite the highly concentrated nature of the industry, there is evidence that they make a significant contribution to the safety and soundness of the sector as a whole.