Professional Affiliation

Former IMF Director for Canada, Ireland, and the Caribbean

Expert Bio

James A. Haley is a Global Fellow of the Wilson Center's Canada Institute in Washington, DC. He has served as Executive Director for Canada, Ireland and the Caribbean at the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and as Executive Director for Canada, Inter-American Development Bank (IDB). Prior to his appointment to the Board of the IDB, he was Director of the Global Economy Program at CIGI. Mr. Haley held a series of senior appointments in the Canadian Treasury and was Research Director, Bank of Canada. He previously served on the staff of the Research Department of the IMF, contributing to the Fund's flagship publication, World Economic Outlook. In addition to his professional duties, Mr. Haley has also taught at the Norman Patterson School of International Affairs, Carleton University and the McCourt School of Public Policy, Georgetown University.

Wilson Center Project

"Global Financial Governance and Economics with an emphasis on North America."

Project Summary

Research under the residential scholar appointment will focus on the threat posed by “de-risking” and loss of correspondent banking relationships (CBRs) in small-states. The de-risking phenomenon, which entails the loss of access to international payments clearing system, reflects several factors, including increased capital requirements for global banks in the wake of the global financial crisis, heightened standards for anti-money laundering (AML), countering the financing of terrorism (CFT) and efforts to increase transparency of tax regimes; the small size of affected jurisdictions is also a key driver. For countries heavily reliant on tourism, the loss of CBRs could have adverse consequences in terms of lower tourist receipts and/or higher transactions costs. Potential collateral effects are equally grave, including driving licit transactions into the shadows, making it more difficult to achieve AML and CFT goals, and setting back development objectives.

Major Publications

Debt and Macroeconomic Behavior: Austerity and Restructuring in an Age of Uncertainty. Journal of Globalization and Development, edited by Martin Guzman, Domenico Lombardi, José Antonio Ocampo and Joseph Stiglitz. January 2016.

Sovereign Debt Restructuring: A Coasean Perspective, in Too Little, Too Late: The Quest for Resolving Sovereign Debt Crises, edited by Martin Guzman, Jose Antonio Ocampo and Joseph Stiglitz, Chapter 7. Columbia University Press, New York. 2016.

 

Canada and the IMF: Global Finance and the Challenge of Completing Bretton Woods, in Crisis and Reform: Canada and the International Financial System edited by Rohinton Medhora and Dane Rowlands, Centre for International Governance Innovation, 2014.