To what extent was the credit contraction during the global financial crisis due to more intense screening and monitoring by banks? We address this question by analysing changes in the structure of a large number of syndicated loans to private, non-financial corporations. We find an increase in...

This would seem an opportune moment to reshape banking systems in the Americas. But any effort to rethink and improve banking must acknowledge three major barriers. The first is a crisis of vision: there has been too little consideration of what kind of banking system would work best for...