Bylaws

Mission Statement

The mission of Latin American Finance Association (LAFA hereafter) is twofold. First, to advance and disseminate high-quality research in finance by Latin Americans. Second, to promote highly impactful research on topics that address meaningful challenges facing individuals, organizations and countries in the Latin American region, and that are relevant for finance practice and theory. The research focus is finance, broadly defined.

LAFA fulfills its mission through the following activities:

a) LAFA holds seminar presentations. These seminars aim to provide an informal forum, in which young and experienced Latin American academics can present and receive constructive feedback on their preliminary research.

b) LAFA provides networking opportunities that can lead to mentorship relations and spur joint research work.

Membership

a) People from Latin America or people who have an attachment to Latin America are eligible to become members of LAFA. There is no age restriction for membership. Any Latin American academic who does serious work in finance is eligible.

b) The membership is by invitation only. Latin American finance academics who are interested in becoming a member of LAFA should contact a current LAFA member, who can then submit the nomination to the board of directors.

d) New members are admitted by a vote of the Board of Directors. This process will take place annually. The Board will announce the date when such vote will take place.

e) The Board of Directors can remove members from LAFA for lack of participation in LAFA activities, misconduct, or lack of research productivity.

f) All members should strive to conduct high quality and impactful research in finance.

g) No member is personally liable for any of the debts, liabilities, or obligations of the group.

Board of Directors

a) The responsibilities of the Board of Directors include choosing new members, organizing seminars, managing current affairs of LAFA, and obtaining financing for LAFA activities either by seeking sponsors or establishing membership fees.

b) The Board of Directors (The Board) consists of eight members, each serving a two-year term. Four members of the first Board serve a three-year term to produce a staggered Board. Members can serve more than one term but not in consecutively years. Directors must be LAFA members.

c) Candidates for the Board can be proposed by any LAFA member.

d) All LAFA members are eligible to vote.

e) The Board determines the way in which votes will be cast and strives to maintain anonymity of members’ votes. Candidates who obtain the most votes are elected. In case of a tie, the Board has the right to decide whether a member is elected or not.

f) One member of the Board is chosen by the Board to be President. The President is elected for a one-year term and can serve more than one term but not in consecutively years.

g) Board members shall serve without compensation for any services rendered by them to LAFA in their capacity as Board members.

h) No Board member is personally liable for any of the debts, liabilities, or obligations of the group.

Seminars

a) The LAFA virtual seminars are scheduled by the Board.

b) The presenters for each seminar are chosen by the Board.

c) When selecting papers to be presented in the seminars, the organizers have a mandate to promote: (i) research of high quality and impact, (ii) active participation of young and untenured faculty members, (iii) diversity in the broadest sense possible.

d) All members are automatically invited to participate in regular seminars.

e) Members wishing to present a paper in the seminar must inform the Board by the announced deadline.

Organizational Meeting

a) At least once a year, an organizational meeting will be held. All members are invited to the organizational meeting. Any issues related to the organization, including the election of Board members and President, can be discussed at this meeting.

Revising By-laws

a) Any proposed changes in By-Laws must be announced to all the members and sufficient time should be allowed for discussions.

b) Any change requires an approval of at least 75% of the members voting on the issue and 60% of all members. The Board determines the election method. However, all members of LAFA are eligible to vote. Furthermore, the Board will strive to maintain anonymity in the member votes.

c) Changes can be proposed by the Board or by 20% of all members.

Acknowledgement

This document is in part inspired by the By-laws of Finance Theory Group (see http://www.financetheory.org/)