Maria Soledad (Sole) Martinez Peria is Assistant Director in the Research Department of the IMF. Sole manages a team of economists responsible for conducting research and policy work on macroeconomic and financial issues critical to Fund surveillance activities, with a focus on macro-financial linkages, financial flows, and financial systems. Sole’s research addresses questions related to financial crises, depositor market discipline, foreign bank participation, bank competition, bank regulation, SME financing, financial inclusion, remittances, and macroprudential policies. Prior to joining the IMF, Sole was a Research Manager at the World Bank. Sole also worked at the Brookings Institution, the Central Bank of Argentina, and the Federal Reserve Board. She has a PhD in economics from the University of California, Berkeley and a BA from Stanford University.