Show Notes
In celebration of Canada’s International Development Week, Toronto Centre hosted a virtual executive panel on building financial resilience.
The discussion explored insights from the World Bank’s Global Findex 2025 survey, which shows that 79% of adults worldwide now have a bank account, up from just 50% in 2011. The speakers discussed how mobile technology and digital banking is increasing access low- and middle-income countries but emphasized access is only the first step. Financial inclusion requires strengthening the systems, policies, and consumer protections that lead to real financial resilience.
The speakers also provided practical insights for financial supervisors, including: How to collaborate with providers to enhance inclusion and resilience Strategies and tools supervisors can use to increase financial service uptake Approaches for individuals to save for education and health
Opening Remarks:
Barbara Curran, Director General, Social and Economic Development Programming Bureau, Global Affairs Canada
Panelists:
Leora Klapper, Lead Economist, Development Research Group, The World Bank
Mariela Zaldivar, Head, Market Conduct and Financial Inclusion, Peruvian Superintendency of Banking, Insurance and Private Pension Funds (SBS)
Rhodora M. Brazil-De Vera, Officer-in-Charge, Supervisory Policy and Research Department; Head, ESG Supervision and Surveillance Group, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas
Moderator:
Lindsay Wallace, Executive Director, FINCA Canada; Managing Director, Social Investment Strategies, FINCA International
Watch the virtual panel session here.
Read the transcript here.
Read their biographies here.
Écoutez le podcast en français ici.
Escuche el podcast en español aqui.
More from Toronto Centre Podcasts
In this podcast, Thomas Beloe of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Sustainable Finance Hub explores how funding critical climate resilience, infrastructure, and social equity projects for developing nations is an urgent necessity.
In this podcast, Vladimir Radunović and Anastasiya Kazakova of Diplo discuss how cyber threats, AI, and geopolitical tensions are creating new risks for financial institutions and critical infrastructure.
Financial stability and national security are becoming increasingly interconnected.
In this podcast, Frank Lofranco, Deputy Commissioner, Supervision and Enforcement at the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada, examines the growing importance of consumer protection in today's financial system.
This new TC Note and podcast examines the role of enforcement powers in effective supervisory intervention. They provide practical guidance on when enforcement action may be warranted, how it can advance supervisory objectives, and what is required to support a credible, transparent, and proportionate enforcement framework.