Nout Wellink to succeed Jaime Caruana as Chairman of the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision

The Group of Ten (G10) central bank Governors and heads of banking supervision have appointed Mr Nout Wellink, President of the Netherlands Bank, as the new Chairman of the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision. He will take up the chairmanship on 1 July 2006.

Mr Wellink will succeed Mr Jaime Caruana who relinquishes the Basel Committee chairmanship upon conclusion of his term of office as Governor of the Bank of Spain.

The G10 Governors and heads of supervision wish to express their appreciation for the strong leadership exhibited by Governor Caruana over his three-year term as Chairman of the Basel Committee. During this time, he brought many important projects to a successful conclusion, including the revised Capital Adequacy Framework (Basel II). He also implemented many important initiatives to enhance coordination between the Basel Committee and the global supervisory community.

The Basel Committee on Banking Supervision is a committee of banking supervisory authorities which was established by the central bank Governors of the Group of Ten countries in 1975. It consists of senior representatives from the banking supervisory authorities and central banks of Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the United States. It usually meets at the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) in Basel, Switzerland, where its permanent Secretariat is located.