Vincent Van Kervel, an academic and researcher at the School of Economics and Business Administration, analyzed the impact of an SVS regulation that encouraged companies to hire financial intermediaries.
The academic from the School of Economics and Business Administration, Universidad de los Andes, Vincent Van Kervel, leads a research study that demonstrates how a Chilean regulation significantly improved stock market liquidity. The study, which was awarded a Fondecyt Regular grant, evaluates the role of financial intermediaries that offer liquidity on the stock exchange while receiving direct payment from listed companies.
"In simple terms, liquidity refers to the ability to trade shares at low costs and without altering the price too much. Thanks to a regulatory change by the then Superintendency of Securities and Insurance (SVS), we were able to measure how this mechanism affected the market. We found that liquidity increased significantly, consistent with public policy objectives," explains Van Kervel.
The relevance of the project lies in the fact that for the first time, the academic is working with local data, after years of research with international information. "This paper is special because we use Chilean data. And the results show that well-designed public policies can directly stimulate the functioning of the capital market, lowering transaction costs for investors and institutions, including the AFPs," he adds.
The work has the collaboration of the economists Mauricio Larraín (UANDES) and Jorge Sabat (Universidad Andrés Bello) and opens up new lines of research on how regulation affects the confidence and efficiency of financial markets. In addition, Van Kervel is involved in other projects related to competition between stock exchanges, a key phenomenon in the development of the global financial system.
"Rigorously measuring the impact of regulations allows us to move towards more transparent and accessible markets. In practice, these changes not only benefit companies that access capital, but also the savings of millions of Chileans who invest through pension funds or financial instruments,"he concludes.