Mr. Woodlief Thomas of the Development Advisory service of the World Bank will arrive in Santiago, Chile, tomorrow to direct a study of measures to make the Chilean capital market a more efficient instrument in mobilizing domestic savings for economic development. He will be assisted by Mr. Richard Ewbank, of the Bank of England and Mr. Emile den Dunnen, of the Bank of the Netherlands. A number of Chilean nationals will be associated with the study.
The World Bank organized the study group at the request of the Chilean Government and has agreed to cover the foreign exchange costs. The Chilean Government has agreed to bear the local currency costs.
Strengthening of the Chilean capital market in order to increase the flow of domestic savings into domestic investment is needed to enable Chile to attain the targets contemplated in her 10-year development program. The study is an important and necessary step towards strengthening the capital market and tapping the needed resources.
In the end, the study group aims to recommend measures to achieve effective mobilization of personal and business savings through financial institutions and the sale of securities. It will outline the steps to be undertaken to promote capital formation in the private sector and to strengthen the operations of the stock exchange. It will also evaluate the effects of existing corporation law on investment practices and on the mobilization of capital and suggest changes if found to be needed.
An internationally known authority on credit and monetary policy, Mr. Thomas brings to his new assignment the experience gained during his 40 years of service with the Federal Reserve System of the United States, mostly at the Board of Governors in Washington, with short periods of service at the Federal Reserve Banks of Philadelphia and New York.
As economist of the Open Market committee, he was for many years intimately associated with the Federal Reserve policy in the buying and selling of United States Government securities. He first joined the Federal Reserve System in 1920. In 1934, he was appointed Assistant Director of the Research and Statistics Division, and was designated its Director in 1945. He became Economic Adviser to the Board in 1949, and was named Advisor to the Board on January 1, 1960.
