Donald L Kohn appointed Chairman of the Committee on the Global Financial System

At their meeting in Basel this weekend, the Governors of the central banks of the Group of Ten (G10) countries appointed Donald L Kohn as Chairman of the Committee on the Global Financial System (CGFS). Mr Kohn is Vice Chairman of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System.

Mr Kohn's appointment as Chairman of the CGFS is for a term of three years starting on 1 July 2006. He succeeds Roger W Ferguson Jr, who relinquished the CGFS chairmanship after resigning in April 2006 as Vice Chairman of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System.

Donald L Kohn has been a member of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System since 2002. Prior to his appointment as a member of the Board, he served in many senior staff positions at the Federal Reserve, including Adviser to the Board for Monetary Policy and Secretary of the Federal Open Market Committee. Mr Kohn joined the Federal Reserve System in 1970. He has a PhD in economics from the University of Michigan.

The CGFS is a central bank forum for monitoring and examining broad issues relating to financial markets and systems, with a view to elaborating policy recommendations to support central banks in the fulfilment of their responsibilities for monetary and financial stability.