BIS Taps Stephen Poloz as Chairman of its Consultative Council

The Bank for International Settlements (BIS) has appointed Stephen S. Poloz to the Board of Directors and its Consultative Council for the Americas (CCA), whose appointment begins as of January 9, 2016, according to a BIS statement.

Per Mr. Poloz’s new appointment at BIS, he will serve as its chair for a period of two years, succeeding José Darío Uribe, the Governor of the Bank of the Republic, Colombia, following his two-year stint. Currently Mr. Poloz is the Governor of the Bank of Canada.

At present, the CCA of the BIS is comprised of governors of central banks across the Americas – this includes those of Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, Peru, and the United States.

The CCA was originally established back in 2008 to help facilitate and strengthen communication and cooperation between the aforementioned central banks and the BIS Board and Management, with regard to pertinent issues and points of emphasis shared by the central banking community in the Americas region.

The appointment of Mr. Poloz is the first major move at the BIS in 2016 and the most recent since the election of Raghuram Rajan as the group’s Vice-Chairman.

Mr. Rajan had been elected as vice-chairman for a period of three years, which ends on November 10, 2018 – he is the acting Governor of the Reserve Bank of India and has been a member of the BIS board since 2013. The BIS board also includes such household names as the US Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen, Bank of England Governor Mark Carney, and Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda.