Children and the financial regulatory landscape in Latin America

In spite of the increasing evidence that has revealed that early access to financial services has long-term impacts, children and adolescents continue to face major obstacles to be financially included, particularly in the developing world. This document presents the main results of a survey conducted among 14 Latin American countries and reports the landscape of regulation and policies that may enhance child and youth financial inclusion in the region giving policy recommendations stemming from a cross-country analysis. The results of this mapping exercise suggest that a) there is a great diversity in approaches to financial service regulation for children and youth in the region, b) The policies or intentions from national authorities do not always resonate in either regulation or implementation and c) young people are not often seen as independent economic actors. Este documento presenta los principales resultados de una encuesta a Autoridades Reguladoras del Sistema Financiero de catorce paises de America Latina y el Caribe, exponiendo el panorama de la inclusion y la educacion financiera de ninos y jovenes en la region. El documento propone recomendaciones de politicas a partir del analisis de las respuestas de las Autoridades Reguladoras en las tematicas de acceso a servicios financieros, proteccion al consumidor financiero y educacion financiera. Los resultados sugieren que en la region hay una gran heterogeneidad en el abordaje de la inclusion financiera de ninos y jovenes, que las politicas disenadas no siempre redundan en un marco regulatorio o implementacion adecuados y que tanto jovenes como ninos no siempre son vistos desde las politicas publicas como actores economicos.