Die inflasiekoers en die produksiegaping speel 'n belangrike rol in die monetêrebeleidstand-punt. Alhoewel die publiek inflasie redelik goed verstaan, is die produksiegaping 'n relatief onbekende begrip. Definisies van potensiële produksie kan dubbelsinnig wees, aangesien die term dikwels gebruik word om verwante, maar logies afsonderlike, konsepte te beskryf. Die produksiegaping word ook nie direk waargeneem nie en word afgelei uit beramings van potensiële produksie, wat self nie waarneembaar of meetbaar is nie en dus beraam moet word. Hierdie beramings kan egter sensitief wees vir verskillende metodologiese paradigmas en databeskikbaarheid. Die doel van hierdie artikel is om by te dra tot 'n beter begrip van en groter deursigtigheid in plaaslike monetêre beleid deur die rol van die produksiegaping in Suid-Afrikaanse monetêre beleid te verduidelik. Eerstens word die idees onderliggend aan die konsep van die produksiegaping bespreek, waarna 'n werksdefinisie van die produksiegaping in die konteks van monetêre beleid voorgestel word. Verskeie metodologieë en empiriese tegnieke waarvolgens potensiële produksie en die produksiegaping beraam kan word, word bespreek, insluitende eenveranderlike statistiese tegnieke, strukturele modelle en semistrukturele benaderings. Die artikel verduidelik voorts hoe die Suid-Afrikaanse Reserwebank (SARB) die plaaslike produksiegaping beraam en hoe hierdie beraamde produksiegaping op die monetêrebeleidstand-punt inwerk. Ten slotte word die SARB se monetêrebeleidstandpunt beskou met betrekking tot die inflasiekoers en produksiegapingsberamings oor die afgelope twee dekades ten einde die reaksie van die plaaslike monetêre beleid op groot ekonomiese skokke soos die wêreldwye finansiële krisis en COVID-19 te illustreer, en ten einde die beramings se sensitiwiteit vir datahersienings uit te lig.

The inflation rate and the output gap are two of the main determinants of the monetary policy stance. However, while inflation is relatively well understood by the public, the output gap is not. The output gap is not directly observed and is derived from estimates of potential output. Potential output is also not observable or measurable, and therefore needs to be estimated. Such estimates can, however, be sensitive to different methodological paradigms and the availability of data, while definitions of potential output may be ambiguous, because the term is often used to describe related, but logically distinct, concepts. With the aim of contributing to a better understanding of and greater transparency in domestic monetary policy, this paper describes the role of the output gap in South African monetary policy by broadly examining the following three questions: (i) What exactly is the output gap?; (ii) How is it measured? and (iii) Why is it important? To begin with, the idea underlying the concept of the output gap is explained and a tentative working definition of the output gap in the context of monetary policy is provided. Various methodologies and empirical techniques of estimating potential output and the output gap are then discussed, including univariate statistical techniques, structural models and semi-structural approaches. This is followed by an explanation of how the South African Reserve Bank (SARB) estimates the domestic output gap, and how the estimated output gap feeds into the monetary policy stance. Finally, the SARB's monetary policy stance is viewed in relation to the inflation rate and output gap estimates over the last two decades to illustrate the domestic monetary policy response to notable economic events such as the global financial crisis and the COVID-19 shock, and to highlight the sensitivity of the estimates to data revision. This paper shows that both actual and potential economic growth have declined over the last decade, even without taking into account the COVID-19 shock. This is consistent with the South African empirical literature, and points to a worrying and persistent stagnation in domestic economic activity. After strong economic activity during the early 2000s, the economy started slowing down in 2008. This may be ascribed to a number of factors, including the introduction of load-shedding in 2007, changes in the global economic landscape following the globalfinancial crisis, dwindling infrastructure investment after the 2010 FIFA World Cup tournament, and uncertainty about domestic economic policy. COVID-19 brought about a massive economic shock in 2020. Lockdown regulations saw capital and labour withdrawn from economic use, which caused real GDP and potential output to contract by 6,2% and 2,7%, respectively, for the year. The output gap, which has mainly remained in negative territory since 2009, fell to -7,9% in the second quarter of 2020. In response to the crisis, the SARB drastically lowered the policy rate and applied several other financial market interventions, but even this extensive range of stimuli failed to prevent an economic collapse. Moreover, the output gap has remained negative despite a minor rebound of the economy in 2021 and 2022, which indicated that economic activity remained on its weakpre-COVID-19 trajectory. Inflation has stabilised markedly since 2010. This may be partly due to weak domestic economic activity that does not exert significant domestic inflationary pressures. In fact, many of the notable inflationary episodes of the last 25years were largely caused by external factors, such as the rand depreciation shock and the global financial crisis. This benign domestic inflationary environment has arguably made it easier for the SARB to achieve its inflation target. Such consistency has contributed to an increase in the SARB's credibility, which, in turn, has led to inflation expectations that are lower and better anchored.

Resumen Este trabajo intenta examinar el nivel de conocimiento financiero de los trabajadores de la industria turística en México a través de la Metodología de Ecuaciones Estructurales (SEM). El tipo de muestreo no es probabilístico por autodeterminación. Se aplica un cuestionario a 500 trabajadores, en 2023, de empresas mexicanas del sector turístico considerando los siguientes 7 temas: Inversión, ahorro, crédito, seguros, pensiones, etc. gastos y presupuestos. El SEM permite sacar a la luz el conocimiento financiero que los trabajadores encuestados tienen sobre estos temas. A partir de una estructura factorial obtenida del análisis confirmatorio, que presenta buena bondad de ajuste, ajuste estructural y parsimonía, los principales hallazgos son: 1) en términos de crédito, los trabajadores dan importancia a los requisitos solicitados por las instituciones financieras y consideran que son fáciles de interpretar y cumplir, 2) en términos de cuentas de fondos de jubilación, los trabajadores se sienten confiados en las instituciones que administran sus ahorros de jubilación y tienen claras las comisiones, 3) en términos de ahorro, los trabajadores perciben que las cuentas bancarias se han adaptado a sus necesidades, ya que los bancos se han vuelto muy flexibles en términos de requisitos de apertura y montos iniciales con información clara y completa de la cuenta, 4) en términos de inversión, los trabajadores apenas adquieren pagarés bancarios, y 5) en cuanto al seguro de vida, los trabajadores expresan la facilidad que existe para contratar un seguro, aunque el costo es limitado. Los resultados obtenidos tienen implicaciones prácticas para que el sector turístico continúe promoviendo el hábito de ahorro y el uso de servicios y productos financieros a los que el trabajador pueda tener acceso, ya que este conocimiento financiero se traduce en empleados más organizados en sus asuntos financieros.

Abstract This paper attempts to examine the level of financial knowledge of workers in the tourism industry in Mexico through the Structural Equations Methodology (SEM). The type of sampling is non-probabilistic by self-determination. A questionnaire is applied to 500 workers, in 2023, from Mexican companies in the tourism sector considering the following 7 issues: investment, savings, credit, insurance, pensions, expenses and budgets. The SEM allows bring to light the financial knowledge that the surveyed workers have about these issues. Based on a factor structure obtained from the confirmatory analysis, which presents good goodness of fit, structural adjustment, and parsimony, the main findings are: 1) in terms of credit, workers give importance to the requirements requested by financial institutions and consider that they are easy to interpret and comply with, 2) in terms of retirement fund accounts, workers feel confident in institutions that manage their retirement savings and are clear about commissions, 3) in terms of savings, workers perceive that bank accounts have been adapted to their needs since banks have become very flexible in terms of requirements for opening and initial amounts with clear and complete account information, 4) in terms of investment, workers hardly acquire bank promissory notes, and 5) regarding life insurance, workers express the ease that exists to contract insurance, although the cost is limited. The results obtained have practical implications for the tourism sector to continue promoting the habit of saving and the use of financial services and products to which the worker can have access, since this financial knowledge translates into more organized employees in their financial affairs.

Bredenkamp v Standard Bank of South Africa Ltd 2010 4 SA 468 (SCA) and subsequent cases that followed this precedent exhibit that banks have the right to terminate the bank-customer relationship unilaterally. This right is usually entrenched in the contract between the bank and its customer and may also have its origin in an implied term of the contract. Some major banks in the Republic of South Africa have recently been under the spotlight for unilaterally terminating the bank-customer relationship with their customers (the Sekunjalo Group) based on reputational risks. It is alleged that in terminating the relationship, these banks unfairly discriminated against Sekunjalo Group, therefore asserting that the principle of reputational risk is not attributed similarly across customers of different racial groups. Whereas the paper does not intend to decide on such allegations of racial discrimination, the paper asserts that the unilateral termination of a bank-customer relationship is both a right and an obligation. The paper adopts a qualitative research approach in analysing the contractual nature of a bank-customer relationship, the common-law principles regarding the termination of the bank-customer relationship, and the developments in the application of the principle of reputational risk by South African banks and courts in the wake of the applications lodged by members of the Sekunjalo Group.

Abstract Purpose We analyze how debt burden and income taxes affect the earnings quality of Portuguese SMEs, using earnings persistence as a proxy for earnings quality. More specifically, we intend to find out whether the high indebtedness of these firms causes a greater tax effect than debt effect. Theoretical framework While credit banks represent the main source of financing for SMEs, they tend to reduce their earnings in order to avoid taxes. However, this activity can be costly for their development, given that banking institutions demand earnings persistence to reduce the risk of default, in accordance with contract theory. Design/methodology/approach We collect data for 140 Portuguese SMEs over the period from 2015 to 2021 to run panel data regressions. Findings Debt and earnings persistence are negatively related, so this relationship tends to degrade earnings quality, which is inconsistent with capturing bank confidence. Furthermore, debt maintains the negative effect with income taxes in the model. However, in this combination, income taxes become significant to explain the negative influence on earnings persistence, which is consistent with tax avoidance. Finally, we control for firm size, which is positively associated with earnings persistence. Overall, taking together the determinants of debt, income tax and size, Portuguese SMEs do not have persistent earnings. Practical & social implications of research This study may be useful for several stakeholders of Portuguese SMEs, namely tax authorities, creditors, managers and academics, as it shows that debt and especially taxes have a negative impact on the earnings persistence, which signals a decrease in the quality of financial reporting. Originality/value In the most leveraged Portuguese SMEs, debt is not a governance mechanism to control managers’ decisions, as more debt reduces earnings persistence, meaning that managers are not sensitive to capturing creditors’ confidence. In addition, the tax effect is more relevant than the debt effect for earnings persistence. Faced with interest rate rigidity, managers exploit the discretionary nature of tax decisions. specifically However development default theory Designmethodologyapproach Design methodology approach 14 201 202 regressions related confidence Furthermore model combination avoidance Finally size Overall authorities creditors academics reporting Originalityvalue Originality value decisions addition rigidity 1 20 2

resumo A crise da Covid-19 reforçou e consolidou um modelo de cooperação monetária global que visa sustentar o funcionamento do mercado financeiro internacional. No centro do sistema monetário, o desenho jurídico para a cooperação tem se alterado substancialmente: da centralidade de ações coletivas coordenadas por organizações multilaterais (como o Fundo Monetário Internacional, o FMI), para mecanismos contratuais mais flexíveis, formalizados por bancos centrais e sua rede de swaps cambiais. A gestão dos impactos monetários da crise da Covid-19 revela um novo momento Bretton Woods, que recorre a outros termos políticos e jurídicos para estruturar as relações internacionais. O argumento deste artigo é o de que o direito tem papel explicativo e constitutivo dessa mudança. O dólar americano, como moeda internacional, é estruturado por um tipo específico de contrato, o eurodólar. Em tempos de crise, esse contrato demanda um prestamista internacional de última instância, capaz de conceder, de forma ilimitada, suporte aos usos globais da moeda. Somente uma instituição financeira, organizada como banco central, tem a capacidade jurídica e econômica de desempenhar esse papel - e não um fundo multilateral. A rede hierárquica de swaps cambiais, com o banco central americano (Federal Reserve, o Fed) em seu topo, foi o arranjo jurídico estruturado para sustentar o funcionamento do mercado financeiro global e de sua moeda por excelência, o eurodólar.

abstract The Covid-19 crisis reinforced and consolidated a template for global monetary cooperation, aiming to keep the international financial markets functioning. At the core of the monetary system, the legal design for cooperation has changed substantially: from the central role of multilateral organizations responsible for organizing collective actions (such as the International Monetary Fund - IMF), to more flexible contractual arrangements, formalized by a network of Central Bank swaps. The management of the Covid-19 monetary impacts reveals a new Bretton Woods moment, organized in novel political and legal terms. This article argues that Law has an explanatory and constitutive role in this substantial development. The US dollar, as a global currency, is structured by a specific type of contract, the eurodollar. In times of crisis, this contract requires an international lender of last resort that provides unlimited financial support to the currency’s global uses. Only a financial institution organized as a central bank has the legal and economic capacity to perform this role - not a multilateral fund. The hierarchical network of Central Bank swaps, with the American Central Bank (the Federal Reserve - Fed) at the top, was the legal arrangement structured to support the functioning of the global financial market and its currency par excellence, the eurodollar.

RESUMEN En tiempos de bancarización, donde abundan políticas para masificar el consumo de servicios financieros, la expansión de productos como la cuenta de ahorros en la modalidad de nómina y su llegada al promedio de la población con especiales condiciones de protección como los trabajadores, ha dejado entrever el estrecho vínculo que existe entre este tipo de servicios y la garantía y materialización de derechos básicos como el deber de información, el mínimo vital y la irrenunciabilidad y pago oportuno del salario. Con la revisión de las prácticas para aplicar la figura de la compensación incluida en los contratos de cuenta de ahorros por parte de las entidades financieras, se hace visible la necesidad de que el análisis de estas relaciones contractuales tenga en cuenta límites a la autonomía de la voluntad y libertad de contratación de estas entidades, en donde conceptos como el deber de información, el contrato de adhesión, la posición dominante y la doctrina de las cláusulas abusivas aportarán al restablecimiento del equilibrio contractual y en consecuencia, a la protección de los derechos de estos usuarios.

ABSTRACT These are times where policies to spread the consumption of financial services are numerous. The increase in products like saving accounts and their access to populations with special helplessness conditions, such as workers, has hinted at the close link between them and the guarantee of basic rights such as information, minimum subsistence, timely wages payment, and the inalienability of labor rights. With the review of the practices included by financial entities to apply the figure of compensation on saving account agreements, it is apparent the need for an analysis of these contractual relations. It bore the limits to the banks' autonomy and contract freedom, where concepts such as the duty of information, standard contract, dominant position, and doctrine on unfair terms will contribute in the preservation of the contractual balance and the protection of the users' rights.

RESUMO Em tempos de bancarização onde abundam políticas para massificar o consumo de serviços financeiros, a expansão de produtos como a conta poupança na modalidade de nómina e sua chegada à média da população com especiais condições de proteção como os trabalhadores, tem deixado entrever o estreito vínculo que existe entre este tipo de serviços e a garantia e materialização de direitos básicos como o dever de informação, o mínimo vital e a irrenunciabilidade e pagamento oportuno do salário. Com a revisão das práticas para aplicar a figura da compensação incluídas nos contratos de conta poupança por parte das entidades financeiras, se faz evidente a necessidade de que a análise destas relações contratuais tenha em conta limites à autonomia da vontade e liberdade de contratação destas entidades, onde conceitos como o dever de informação, contrato de adesão, posição dominante e doutrina das cláusulas abusivas; aportarão ao restabelecimento do equilíbrio contratual e em consequência, à proteção dos direitos destes usuários.

In the year 2015/16, some of the major South African banks such as Standard Bank, terminated its bank-client contracts with its customers. The customers argued that Standard bank issued no notice of termination of these bank-client contracts. Alternatively, if the bank issued the notice of termination, the period thereof was insufficient for the client to arrange for an alternative baking option. As a result, the client argued that Standard Bank unlawfully terminated the bank-client relationship. Consequently, this paper examines this termination by considering, i) the nature of their relationship, ii) the duties of both the bank and the client, iii) and iv) the ways and circumstances which the bank-client contract may be terminated in South African banking law.

Abstract: One of the first judicial decisions that acknowledged non-pecuniary damages in contract law in general terms was about the breach of a bank account contract. In this paper we consider several judicial decisions and try to systematize them inducting some criteria for dealing with the always thorny issue of non-pecuniary damages in contract law.

Resumen: Una de las primeras decisiones judiciales que reconoció, en términos generales, la procedencia de los daños morales frente al incumplimiento contractual fue acerca del incumplimiento de un contrato de cuenta corriente por parte de un banco. En este trabajo consideramos un importante número de sentencias de tribunales superiores sobre el tema e intentamos sistematizarlas con el afán de inducir ciertos criterios que faciliten el siempre espinoso tratamiento de la cuestión en el derecho de contratos.

Abstract: This study investigates whether the quality of firms' financial reporting is influenced by the contracting of debt, using data on Portuguese private firms from 2013 to 2015. More specifically, the study uses earnings smoothing, magnitude of absolute discretionary accruals, and timeliness of disclosure as proxies for financial reporting quality. I find that private firms which contract more debt exhibit higher levels of financial reporting quality. Additionally, firms that contract larger amounts of debt and with a good financial performance tend to exhibit lower quality financial reporting. The results provide strong evidence that private firms have an interest in camouflaging their performance in the presence of higher levels of bank debt.

Resumen: Este estudio investiga si la calidad de la información financiera de las empresas se ve influenciada por el aumento de la deuda, utilizando los datos de las empresas privadas portuguesas de 2013 a 2015. Más concretamente, el estudio utiliza el alisamiento de los resultados, la magnitud de los ajustes discrecionales absolutos y la puntualidad de divulgación como medidas de calidad de informe financiero. Los resultados muestran que las empresas privadas que contratan más deudas presentan niveles más altos de calidad de informes financieros. Además, las empresas que contratan grandes cantidades de deuda y con un buen rendimiento financiero tienden a mostrar informes financieros de menor calidad. Los resultados proporcionan una fuerte evidencia de que las empresas privadas tienen interés en camuflar su desempeño en presencia de niveles más altos de deuda bancaria.

RESUMO Este artigo apresenta uma leitura inicial sobre como estão distribuídos os estudantes beneficiários do Programa Bolsa Família no estado do Paraná a partir dos dados do Banco do Sistema Presença de 2014, cotejados com o Censo Escolar do mesmo ano. Para a construção de um mapeamento sobre as condições de oferta escolar, considerou-se as condições que têm sido asseguradas aos estudantes, tomando-se, em especial, informações quanto às condições de trabalho docente (contrato de trabalho e formação docente) e às condições de infraestrutura da escola (biblioteca, internet, banda larga, laboratório de informática e quadra de esporte). O objetivo é problematizar as condições de equidade na produção da política educacional, partindo-se do pressuposto de que o enfrentamento das desigualdades educacionais no Brasil implica reconhecimento de que a população pobre está na escola pública e de que o trabalho escolar tem implicações objetivas para a construção de uma experiência inclusiva e de qualidade para o percurso escolar desta população.

ABSTRACT This article presents an initial reading about how the beneficiaries of the Bolsa Família Program in the state of Paraná are distributed, based on data of 2014 from the System Bank Presença, compared to the School Census of the same year. This allows for the construction of a map about the conditions of school’s offerings. For this, the conditions assured to the students have been considered, from information taken about the working conditions of the teachers (work contract and teacher training), and the state of the schools’ infrastructure, (library, internet access, broadband connection, computer lab and sports court). The objective is to problematize the conditions of equity in the construction of educational policy, starting from the assumption that confronting the educational inequalities in Brazil imply recognizing that the poor are in the public scholar system and also that schoolwork has objective significance for the construction of an inclusive and qualitative experience for the educational journey of this population.

On 22 May 2015, the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) handed down a judgment in the matter of Lodhi 5 Properties Investments CC v FirstRand Bank Limited [2015] 3 All SA 32 (SCA). This judgement considered whether the prohibition against the charging of interest on a loan in terms of Islamic law (Sharia law) may be a defence for a claim for mora interest in terms of a loan agreement. This note critically discusses the judgment in the light of the approach adopted by the SCA with regard to addressing a dispute arising from a contract that has Islamic law as a governing law. As this is the first case to come before the SCA in South Africa, this note critically analyses how the court discussed the principles of Islamic law as applicable to the dispute between the parties. In particular, it questions the court's assertion that a claim for mora interest has nothing to do with and is not affected by the Sharia law's prohibition against payment of interest on a loan debt. It also looks at the SCA's approach (as a common law court) with regard to the enforcement of the principles of Islamic banking law. The judgment raises important issues regarding the enforceability of Islamic finance law and therefore merits discussion in the context of the continuing growth and expansion of Islamic banking and finance law in South Africa.

El propósito de este artículo consiste en identificar y analizar las principales características relacionadas con la Delegatura para Funciones Jurisdiccionales de la Superintendencia Financiera de Colombia. Para tal efecto, se determinarán las posibles problemáticas en lo correspondiente a la constitucionalidad de dichas funciones judiciales, el contenido y alcance de éstas, el desarrollo jurisprudencial que ha tenido la Delegatura a la fecha en lo correspondiente a la teoría del riesgo creado y cómo éste ha impactado en el entendimiento que existía en Colombia en materia de responsabilidad civil de las instituciones financieras y finalmente, una reflexión sobre la protección precontractual de los consumidores financieros por parte de la citada Delegatura.

This article purpose is to identify and to analyze the main problems related to the Financial Superintendence of Colombia's office for jurisdictional functions. To this end, it will define the possible issues about the constitutionality of these jurisdictional functions, its content and meaning. Also, it will set out the jurisdictional development of that office for the theory of created risk to show how this conception has had an impact on the understanding of public liability of the financial institutions in Colombia. Finally it will make a reflexion of the pre-contractual protection of financial consumers by the above-mentioned office.

O objetivo deste artigo é identificar e analisar as principais características relacionadas À Delegatura para funções jurisdicionais da Superintendência Financeira da Colômbia. Para este fim, determinar o problema potencial no relativo À constitucionalidade das funções judiciais, o conteúdo eo alcance destes, o desenvolvimento jurisprudencial que tomou o Delegatura até À data no que corresponde À teoria do risco criado e como ele tem impactado no entendimento de que existiu na Colômbia sobre a responsabilidade civil das instituições financeiras e, finalmente, uma reflexão sobre a protecção pré-contratual dos consumidores financeiros pela Delegatura disse.

Este artigo apresenta os contratos de créditos concedidos pelo Banco Nacional de Desenvolvimento Econômico e Social, entre 2004 e 2015, orientados para apoiar a exportação de serviços de engenharia para países da América do Sul, discriminados por empresa, país, obra realizada e valor do contrato. A análise dos dados é acompanhada da historicização das mudanças institucionais por que passa o Banco nas últimas décadas. A conclusão é que a concessão de créditos a empresas brasileiras de construção civil para a realização de obras no exterior é resultado de amplo movimento que contempla: exigências de sintonia entre os processos de valorização dos capitais e o modo de regulação diante das amplas modificações que o capitalismo passou em período recente; ações governamentais orientadas pela decisão de intensificar as relações Sul-Sul, especialmente em relação aos países da porção Sul do continente americano; e estratégias empresariais que visam a ampliação dos espaços de atuação.

This article presents the credit agreements granted by the National Bank for Economic and Social Development between 2004 and 2015, aimed to support the export of engineering services to countries in South America, broken down by company, country, work performed and contract value. The data analysis is accompanied by the history of institutional changes experienced by the Bank in recent decades. The conclusion is that the granting of credit to Brazilian construction companies to carry out works abroad is the result of a broad movement that includes synchrony requirements between the capital value processes and the regulation mode facing the big changes that capitalism suffered in recent times; governmental actions guided by the decision to strengthen South-South relations, particularly in the countries of the southern portion of the American continent; and business strategies aimed at expanding the areas of action.

Cet article présente les contrats de crédits accordés par la Banque Nationale de Développement Economique et Social, entre 2004 et 2005, visant à soutenir l’exportation de services d’ingénierie pour les pays d’Amérique du Sud; il sont classés par entreprise, pays, travaux effectués et valeur de contrat. L’analyse des données est accompagnée de l’historicisation des changements institutionnels qui ont eu lieu au sein de la Banque au cours des dernières décennies. La conclusion est que l’octroi de crédits aux entreprises de construction brésiliennes pour la réalisation de travaux à l’étranger est l’aboutissement d’un large mouvement qui comprend des exigences d’accord entre les processus de valorisation des capitaux et la réglementation face aux grands changements récents du capitalisme, des actions gouvernementales guidées par la volonté d’intensifier les relations sud-sud, tout particulièrement dans les pays de la partie méridionale du continent américain, et des stratégies d’affaires en vue d’une amplification du rayon d’action.

Tramping through the Himalayan snows to treat patients after the 2005 Pakistan earthquake, internist Félix Báez could never have imagined he would be on the front lines of Ebola in Sierra Leone nine years later....much less that he would contract the deadly virus, live to tell the story and also to return to his team in Africa to continue the fight. At his side in the Geneva University Hospital, where he was airlifted, was Dr Jorge Pérez, today director of Cuba’s Pedro Kourí Tropical Medicine Institute (IPK), but best known as “Cuba’s AIDS doctor.” Times have changed for both physicians, and Ebola is first on their minds as it rages on. At this writing, while there is cautious optimism in Liberia, the epidemic is not yet under control. Ebola has already infected nearly 22,000 people, taken over 8600 lives; Sierra Leone is one of the countries hardest hit. Among the sick and dying have been too many local health workers: 103 of the 138 infected, at last count. The first to sound the global alarm was Doctors Without Borders, which, like Cuba, already had health professionals on the ground in Africa; they were joined by many more, and Cuba was the country that offered the most assistance once WHO called for nations to step up with funds and, most importantly, human resources. Cuba sent 256 volunteers, all with significant international emergency experience: 38 to Guinea, 53 to Liberia and 165 to Sierra Leone. And more wait in the wings, specially-trained disaster medical workers who have already received their first round of Ebola courses at IPK. These Cuban and other international volunteers are bringing patients back from the brink of death, assisting national health workers and community educators. And people like Jorge Pérez are working to get to the bottom of Ebola to help prevent its spread throughout Africa and to other parts of the world. But to keep an epidemic like this from happening again, it will take more, much more. Not only could the global community have done a better job this time around. But as Jim Kim, President of the World Bank admonished, Ebola didn’t start with disease, but rather with historic inequalities, the virus festering within health systems barely able to function. A lesson for us all. Hours before Dr Báez’s return to Sierra Leone—where he is now—MEDICC Review interviewed him and Dr Pérez at IPK in Havana.

Applies proper regulation of freezing and seizure of bank accounts with application of new technologies, due to the fact that, technically, nominal money is used along with a banking contract between a financial institution and a person (the executed/debtor in the enforcement procedure). In this contractual relationship the performer is a third party, and the financial institution has nothing to do with this person. This creates the need to balance the access to that information (both the creditor and the enforcement body), because personal data is especially protected by bank secrecy and the right to the protection of credit.

Corresponde una adecuada regulación del congelamiento y embargo de cuentas bancarias con aplicación de las nuevas tecnologías en tanto nos encontramos, técnicamente, con dinero nominal y un contrato bancario entre la entidad financiera y una persona (el ejecutado en la relación procesal). En esa relación contractual el ejecutante es un tercero y la misma entidad financiera no tiene relación alguna con aquel. Ello crea la necesidad de balancear el acceso a esa información (tanto por el acreedor como por el órgano de ejecución), por cuanto se trata de datos personales especialmente resguardados por el secreto bancario y el derecho a la tutela del crédito.