Lee Chang-yong, Governor of the Bank of Korea, Appointed Chair of BIS 'Think Tank' Global Financial System Committee... First Korean

BIS Governors' Meeting as the 'Top-Level Core Consultative Body'
Term Starts This Month 1st for 3 Years

Lee Chang-yong, Governor of the Bank of Korea, has been appointed as the Chair of the Committee on the Global Financial System (CGFS), the 'think tank' of the Bank for International Settlements (BIS). This is the first time that Korea has held the chairmanship.

On the 15th, the Bank of Korea announced that Governor Lee was appointed as Chair of the CGFS, the highest-level core consultative body of the BIS Governors’ meeting, at the BIS Governors’ meeting held on the 13th (local time) in Basel, Switzerland. The CGFS includes 28 major central banks such as the U.S. Federal Reserve (Fed), the European Central Bank (ECB), and the Bank of Japan as member institutions. The Bank of Korea has participated as an observer since 2001 and has been an official member since November 2009.

Governor Lee’s term as Chair is three years starting from the 1st of this month, succeeding Philip Lowe, Governor of the Reserve Bank of Australia. Previously, Mark Carney, Governor of the Bank of Canada, and William Dudley, President of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, served as Chairs.

The CGFS holds four regular meetings annually as well as emergency meetings. As Chair, Governor Lee will preside over CGFS meetings and report the discussions to the Global Economy Meeting (GEM), attended by 31 central bank governors. He will also take a leading role in decision-making when operating working groups or issuing reports at the CGFS level. This means his influence within the BIS will increase accordingly.

The CGFS serves as a cooperative channel supporting central banks in smoothly fulfilling their mandates for price stability and financial stability by monitoring and analyzing financial system issues and recommending appropriate policy measures. Recently, it convened emergency meetings when crises related to global banks such as Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) and Credit Suisse arose. A Bank of Korea official said, "Simply put, the CGFS can be seen as the BIS-level 'think tank.' Since the most important parts of the global economy are immediately reported and opinions exchanged here, it holds considerable influence."

A Bank of Korea official added, "Considering the committee’s influence on global financial stability, the chairmanship has mainly been held by G7 countries such as Japan, the U.S., and Canada until now. Korea’s appointment as Chair reflects the country’s elevated status in the international community." The official also expressed expectations that this will enhance the research capabilities of Bank of Korea staff and expand the Bank’s influence within the global network.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.