BIS appoints Peter Zöllner to head its Banking Department

The Board of Directors of the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) today announced the appointment of Peter Zöllner as Head of its Banking Department. His appointment takes effect on 1 May 2013 and is for a five-year term.

Mr Zöllner's appointment fills the vacancy being created by the retirement of Günter Pleines, who has been at the BIS since 1981 and has headed its Banking Department since 2005.

In his new role, Mr Zöllner will be a member of the Bank's Executive Committee, thus contributing to the general management of the BIS, and will be in charge of banking operations and services. These are conducted from the BIS's Basel headquarters and its Representative Office for Asia and the Pacific, located in Hong Kong SAR.

Mr Zöllner is currently a Member of the Governing Board and Executive Director for Financial Market Operations at the Central Bank of the Republic of Austria (OeNB). Mr Zöllner started his career at the OeNB in the Banking Department in 1980 and has been a Member of the Governing Board and Executive Director since 1998. Between 1991 and 1996, Mr Zöllner was Economic Policy Adviser to the Austrian Federal Chancellor. He holds a PhD from Vienna University of Economics and Business Administration.

In his current function, Mr Zöllner is responsible for the development and execution of the OeNB's investment and reserve management strategies. Previous career highlights include contributing to the entry of Austria into the European Monetary Union and integrating the central bank into the ESCB and the Eurosystem.

BIS General Manager Jaime Caruana warmly thanked Mr Pleines for his outstanding service to the Bank and wished him well for the future. Welcoming the appointment of Mr Zöllner, he said: "Mr Zöllner brings to this position deep financial market knowledge and senior level central bank experience. Our central bank customers can be confident that the operations and services of the Banking Department will continue to be in capable hands".