Basel Committee announces Mr Wayne Byres as its next Secretary General

The Basel Committee announced today the selection of Mr Wayne Byres, an Executive General Manager of the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA), as its next Secretary General. Mr Byres is currently responsible for the supervision of large complex banks in APRA, a post he has held for the past seven years. Prior to joining APRA in 1998, Mr Byres served as a Senior Manager in the Bank Supervision Department at the Reserve Bank of Australia. Mr Byres will also take over as chair of the Committee's Policy Development Group (PDG).

Stefan Ingves, Chairman of the Basel Committee and Governor of Sweden's central bank said that "given his strong supervisory experience and background in implementing Basel rules, Wayne is ideally suited to carry out the responsibilities of Secretary General. The BCBS has entered a critical phase in which a deep knowledge of bank practices and prudential policies will be indispensable in helping to guide the Committee as it shifts its focus to implementation of Basel III."

Mr Ingves also took the opportunity to express his thanks to Mr Stefan Walter, the outgoing Secretary General, who has served in this role since mid-2006. He said that "Stefan, through his strong leadership of the Secretariat and the PDG, was a driving force behind the Committee's successful completion of Basel III. On behalf of the Committee and its oversight body of Governors and Heads of Supervision, I would like to thank him for his substantial contribution to the Committee's work and wish him well in the future."