The leaders of the five BRICS countries have signed a deal to form a new $100 billion development bank and a reserve fund with equal money, according to BBC.

The BRICS group comprises Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. The newly formed bank will be headquartered in Shanghai, China and the first president will be Indian.

With the creation of the BRICS development bank, many are expecting a regional competitor to the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, which have been criticized for restricting rights of developing countries.

A primary goal of the bank, which has been in the works for a while, is to up the amount of money loaned to developing countries for infrastructure projects.

To start, the bank will have $50 billion in capital, which will be split equally among the BRICS countries. The $100 billion reserve fund, being called a "Contingency Reserve Arrangement, will assist developing countries with cash-flow issues.

The China Post is reporting that the BRICS leaders are meeting with leaders from other South American countries on Wednesday to strengthen ties between the groups and possible work to decrease U.S. influence on the region.

The leaders of Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador and Venezuela, among other Latin American countries, attended the summit in Brasilia.

"It's an opportunity for Brazil to show that it's not just interested in the BRICS but that it is betting on integration and what benefits the region," said Oliver Stuenkel, a foreign relations professor at the Getulio Vargas Foundation.

It could take up to two years to get the bank up and running, because it must be approved by each BRICS government. Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff said it's possible that countries outside of BRICS could be helped by the development bank.

Of the non-BRICS nations at Wednesday's summit, Argentina could stand to benefit the most from the new development bank, as it could default on $1.3 billion in debt after losing a U.S. Supreme Court case regarding hedge funds

"We are open to see what relationship (the fund) could have with countries outside the BRICS group but it hasn't been decided yet because we just formed this institution," Rousseff said.