The Costa Rican financial system is composed of two state-owned commercial banks, 11 private commercial banks, one workers' bank, one state-owned mortgage bank, two mutual housing finance companies, five non-bank finance companies, 25 savings and loans, and two entities engaged in money exchange and transfer, all under supervision of the Superintendence of Financial Entities SUGEF, which is in turn a semi-autonomous unit of the Central Bank. In addition, both state and private commercial banks and the state insurance company run a number of investment and retirement funds or trusts. Please refer to Chapter 6 “Investment Climate” under the subtopic “Efficient Capital Markets and Portfolio Investment” for further information on the banking system.
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