William Coen appointed as the next Secretary General of the Basel Committee

The Basel Committee on Banking Supervision announced today that it has appointed William Coen as its next Secretary General, for an initial term of three years. He will also serve as the Chairman of the Committee's Policy Development Group. Mr Coen has close to 30 years of banking and regulatory experience and has been with the Bank for International Settlements for 15 years, having served as the Basel Committee's Deputy Secretary General for the past seven years. Previously, Mr Coen held various positions with the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. Mr Coen will assume his new responsibilities in mid-June.

Stefan Ingves, Chairman of the Basel Committee and Governor of Sveriges Riksbank, said: "Given his strong regulatory and supervisory background and long-standing involvement in the entirety of the Basel Committee's work programme, Bill is ideally suited to carry out the responsibilities of Secretary General. As Deputy Secretary General, Bill has been integral to the development of the Basel Committee's post-crisis regulatory reform agenda. Without his effort and support, the finalisation of these important projects would have been far more challenging. I look forward to continuing to work with Bill in the coming years."

Mr Ingves also took the opportunity to thank Wayne Byres, the outgoing Secretary General, who has served in this role since early 2012. "Through his strong leadership of the Secretariat, his deep knowledge of banking regulation and his background as a banking supervisor," Mr Ingves said, "Wayne was instrumental in steering a number of important elements of the Committee's reform package to completion, and in the successful introduction of our Regulatory Consistency Assessment Programme. On behalf of the Committee and its oversight body of Central Bank Governors and Heads of Supervision, therefore, I would like to thank him for his invaluable contribution to the Committee's work and wish him well in his future role as Chairman of the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority."