Banco de México Governor Agustín Carstens Appointed as BIS General Manager

The Bank of Mexico’s Governor Agustín Carstens, a voice of an emerging market on global policy associations, has been named General Manager of the Bank for International Settlements (BIS), replacing Jaime Caruana who will retire from the bank next year.

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Mr. Carstens was appointed to a five-year term at BIS, effective 1 October 2017. Assisted by a Nomination Committee, Agustín was selected by BIS Chairman Jens Weidmann, who is also president of Germany's Bundesbank.

Mr. Carstens has been the Governor of the Banco de México since January 2010. In 2011, Carstens, along with Christine Lagarde, was one of the two final candidates to become the managing director of the International Monetary Fund.

His extensive career includes serving as Mexico’s Finance Minister from December 2006 until December 2009, and chairing the IMF and World Bank Joint Development Committee from March 2007 to October 2009. From August 2003 to October 2006, Mr. Carstens served as Deputy Managing Director of the IMF, and was Executive Director on the IMF Board in 1999-2000.

Mr. Carstens was also Mexico’s Deputy Minister of Finance from 2000-2003, and held a variety of posts in the Banco de México in a career spanning over 20 years.

BIS is headquartered in Basel, Switzerland, and acts as a coordinating body among central banks to ensure global monetary and financial stability. The BIS board comprises all central bankers including U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen, Bank of England Governor Mark Carney and Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda.

The 58-year-old central banker holds an MA and a PhD in economics from the University of Chicago. He also received his BA in economics from the Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de México.

Announcing the appointment, Jens Weidmann, Chair of the BIS Board of Directors, said today: "The Board of Directors is delighted to have secured a person of Mr Carstens's remarkable calibre and international experience to be the next BIS General Manager.He is held in high regard in the central banking and international financial communities and already has a strong relationship with the BIS."

“A member of the BIS Board since 2011, since 2013 he has successfully chaired the Global Economy Meeting of Governors, assessing developments, risks and opportunities in the world economy and the global financial system, as well as the Economic Consultative Council. The Board looks forward very much to working closely with Mr Carstens in his new role," concluded Weidmann.