Luis Andrés "Toto" Caputo (born 21 April 1965) is an Argentine economist who is the current Minister of Economy under

Javier Milei Javier Gerardo Milei (born 22 October 1970) is an Argentine politician and economist who has served as President of Argentina since 2023. Milei also served as a national deputy representing the City of Buenos Aires for the party La Libertad ...

's presidency, having assumed office on 10 December 2023. He previously served as Minister of Public Finances from 2017 to 2018 and President of the Central Bank of Argentina in 2018.

Early life and education

Caputo completed his primary and secondary studies at the catholic and bilingual La Salle College. He graduated with a degree in

Economics Economics () is a behavioral science that studies the Production (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and interac ...

from the

University of Buenos Aires The University of Buenos Aires (, UBA) is a public university, public research university in Buenos Aires, Argentina. It is the second-oldest university in the country, and the largest university of the country by enrollment. Established in 1821 ...

. His cousin, Nicolás Caputo, is a construction industry entrepreneur close to

Mauricio Macri Mauricio Macri (; born 8 February 1959) is an Argentine businessman and politician who served as President of Argentina from 2015 to 2019. He has been the leader of the Republican Proposal (PRO) party since its founding in 2005. He previously ...

Academics

Caputo was a professor of

economics Economics () is a behavioral science that studies the Production (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and interac ...

and

finance Finance refers to monetary resources and to the study and Academic discipline, discipline of money, currency, assets and Liability (financial accounting), liabilities. As a subject of study, is a field of Business administration, Business Admin ...

in the postgraduate course of the Pontifical Catholic University of Argentina.

Finances

Caputo served as Chief of Trading for

Latin America Latin America is the cultural region of the Americas where Romance languages are predominantly spoken, primarily Spanish language, Spanish and Portuguese language, Portuguese. Latin America is defined according to cultural identity, not geogr ...

JP Morgan JPMorgan Chase & Co. (stylized as JPMorganChase) is an American multinational finance corporation headquartered in New York City and incorporated in Delaware. It is the largest bank in the United States, and the world's largest bank by mar ...

between 1994 and 1998, and he held the same position for

Eastern Europe Eastern Europe is a subregion of the Europe, European continent. As a largely ambiguous term, it has a wide range of geopolitical, geographical, ethnic, cultural and socio-economic connotations. Its eastern boundary is marked by the Ural Mountain ...

and

Deutsche Bank Deutsche Bank AG (, ) is a Germany, German multinational Investment banking, investment bank and financial services company headquartered in Frankfurt, Germany, and dual-listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange and the New York Stock Exchange. ...

between 1998 and 2003. From then until 2008 he was chairman of the Argentine branch of

Secretary and Minister of Finances

In December 2015 Caputo assumed the position of Secretary of Finances of the Macri's administration. During his tenure he played a key role together with

Alfonso Prat Gay Alfonso Prat-Gay (born 24 November 1965) is an Argentine economist and politician. Following the election of Mauricio Macri to the presidency on 2015, he became Minister of Economy. He was also President of the Central Bank of Argentina from D ...

in the

negotiation Negotiation is a dialogue between two or more parties to resolve points of difference, gain an advantage for an individual or Collective bargaining, collective, or craft outcomes to satisfy various interests. The parties aspire to agree on m ...

with the

hedge funds A hedge fund is a pooled investment fund that holds liquid assets and that makes use of complex trading and risk management techniques to aim to improve investment performance and insulate returns from market risk. Among these portfolio techniq ...

, where the country agreed to pay 9.352 million US dollars and Argentina returned to international capital markets and guaranteed

external financing In the theory of capital structure, external financing is the phrase used to describe funds that firms obtain from outside of the firm. It is contrasted to internal financing which consists mainly of profits retained by the firm for investment. T ...

in a difficult context as a result of the default inherited from

Cristina Fernández de Kirchner Cristina Elisabet Fernández de Kirchner (; born 19 February 1953), often referred to by her initials CFK, is an Argentine lawyer and former politician who served as the 56th president of Argentina from 2007 to 2015, and later as the 37th Vice ...

. On 26 December 2016, after the dismissal of Alfonso Prat-Gay by President Macri, the Ministry of Treasury and Public Finance was split in two, with Caputo being appointed Minister of Finance in January 2017. He continued to take on the task of ensuring the arrival of the necessary funds to face the

fiscal deficit The government budget balance, also referred to as the general government balance, public budget balance, or public fiscal balance, is the difference between government revenues and spending. For a government that uses accrual accounting ( ...

. His deep knowledge of

international finance International finance (also referred to as international monetary economics or international macroeconomics) is the branch of monetary economics, monetary and macroeconomics, macroeconomic interrelations between two or more countries. Internation ...

and direct contact with interlocutors on

Wall Street Wall Street is a street in the Financial District, Manhattan, Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It runs eight city blocks between Broadway (Manhattan), Broadway in the west and South Street (Manhattan), South Str ...

are highlighted.

President of Central Bank

On 14 June, Caputo became President of the BCRA. His main challenge was to contain

inflation In economics, inflation is an increase in the average price of goods and services in terms of money. This increase is measured using a price index, typically a consumer price index (CPI). When the general price level rises, each unit of curre ...

, results that Sturzenegger's administration did not achieve in 2018. Caputo was in the midst of a context of mistrust in the economic program. He increased the

interest rate An interest rate is the amount of interest due per period, as a proportion of the amount lent, deposited, or borrowed (called the principal sum). The total interest on an amount lent or borrowed depends on the principal sum, the interest rate, ...

from 20% and Argentine peso was devalued 40% in three months during its administration. He oversaw a dramatic reduction in BRCA debt in the form of LEBAC bills, a move considered to be an important achievement. Meanwhile, the BCRA's reserves in June were $45 billion and, upon announcing its resignation, it reached $49 billion (considering here the

IMF The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is a major financial agency of the United Nations, and an international financial institution funded by 191 member countries, with headquarters in Washington, D.C. It is regarded as the global lender of la ...

's money inflow). He resigned on 25 September 2018 "for personal reasons", during a negotiation with the

International Monetary Fund The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is a major financial agency of the United Nations, and an international financial institution funded by 191 member countries, with headquarters in Washington, D.C. It is regarded as the global lender of las ...

and internal policies, and was replaced by the Secretary of Economic Policy of the Ministry of Treasury, Guido Sandleris. Argentine

stocks Stocks are feet and hand restraining devices that were used as a form of corporal punishment and public humiliation. The use of stocks is seen as early as Ancient Greece, where they are described as being in use in Solon's law code. The law de ...

and bonds fell after his departure from the Central Bank.

Controversies

On 2017, a government branch of the Fiscal Ministry opened a judicial case accusing Caputo of embezzling money from a Social Security fund by paying fees of at least 540,000 AR$ to a company he had owned and directed until 2015, in lieu of services that were unnecessary. On 5 November 2017, the

Paradise Papers The Paradise Papers are a set of over 13.4 million confidential electronic documents relating to offshore investments that were leaked to the German reporters Frederik Obermaier and Bastian Obermayer, from the newspaper'' Süddeutsche Z ...

, a set of confidential

electronic document An electronic document is a document that can be sent in non-physical means, such as telex, email, and the internet. Originally, any computer data were considered as something internal—the final data output was always on paper. However, the ...

s relating to

offshore investment Offshore investment is the keeping of money in a jurisdiction other than one's country of residence. Offshore jurisdictions are used to pay less tax in many countries by large and small-scale investors. Poorly regulated offshore domiciles have ser ...

, revealed that Caputo had managed at least two offshore wealth funds. Neither the

Cayman Islands The Cayman Islands () is a self-governing British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory, and the largest by population. The territory comprises the three islands of Grand Cayman, Cayman Brac and Little Cayman, which are located so ...

–based Alto Global Fund nor its

Miami Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...

-based parent company, Noctua Partners LLC, were listed in Caputo's financial disclosure statement, a statement that all public officials and candidates for office are required to make. He told Argentine members of the ICIJ team that "it was an investment fund for friends and family." The funds, opened in 2009 and with over $100 million under management, remained under Caputo's management until December 2015, when Macri named him Finance Secretary, a post upgraded to Finance Minister in January 2017.

Other activities

Central American Bank for Economic Integration The Central American Bank for Economic Integration - CABEI ( BCIE in Spanish) was founded in 1960. It is an international multilateral development financial institution. Its resources are invested in projects that foster development to reduce pov ...

(CABEI), Ex-Officio Member of the Board of Governors * Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA),

World Bank Group The World Bank Group (WBG) is a family of five international organizations that make leveraged loans to developing countries. It is the largest and best-known development bank in the world and an observer at the United Nations Development Group ...

, Ex-Officio Member of the Board of GovernorsBoard of Governors
Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA),

Notes

References

External links

Nicolás Dujovne: conductor de TN, columnista de La Nación y asesor de Cambiemos en la campaña
{{DEFAULTSORT:Caputo, Luis 1965 births Argentine people of Italian descent Living people Milei administration cabinet members Presidents of the Central Bank of Argentina University of Buenos Aires alumni 20th-century Argentine economists 21st-century Argentine economists Ministers of economy of Argentina People named in the Paradise Papers