Graeme Wheeler Appointed Chair of the BIS Asian Consultative Council

The Board of Directors of the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) has announced the appointment of Graeme Wheeler as Chair of the BIS Asian Consultative Council (ACC) effective 1 April 2016. The term of appointment for the ACC Chairman is two years. Mr Wheeler is currently Governor of the Reserve Bank of New Zealand, a position which he has held since September 2012.

The ACC is made up of the governors of the BIS member central banks in the Asia-Pacific region and includes Australia, China, Hong Kong SAR, India, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, New Zealand, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand. The Council acts as a vehicle for communication between the shareholding central banks and the BIS on matters of interest and concern to regional central banks. It also provides guidance for the research and banking activities of the BIS's Asian Office, which serves as the secretariat for the ACC.

As Chair of the BIS Asian Consultative Council, Mr Wheeler succeeds Amando Tetangco Jr, Governor of Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, the central bank of the Philippines, who chaired the Council from April 2014.

The BIS has established the Asian Consultative Council (ACC) back in 2001 with the first Chairman of the Council being the Reserve Bank of Australia's head at the time Ian Macfarlane. The body meets at least once a year to discuss the challenges in the region and strengthen the cooperation between the members of the BIS in the Asia Pacific region.