Joseph Yam appointed Chairman of the BIS Asian Consultative Council

The Board of Directors of the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) today announced Joseph C K Yam as Chairman of the BIS Asian Consultative Council (ACC). Mr Yam is Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority.

Mr Yam's appointment is for a term of two years from March 2003. He succeeds Mr Ian Macfarlane, Governor of the Reserve Bank of Australia, as ACC Chairman. Mr Macfarlane chaired the Council from March 2001 to February 2003.

The ACC comprises the Governors of the BIS member central banks in the Asia-Pacific region.¹ The ACC was established in 2001 to provide a vehicle for communication between these central banks and the BIS Board and Management on matters of interest and concern to the Asian central banking community. The BIS Representative Office for Asia and the Pacific in Hong Kong SAR provides the secretariat services for the ACC.

¹ The BIS member central banks represented in the ACC are those of Australia, China, Hong Kong SAR, India, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand. In addition, the Governors of the central banks of Indonesia, New Zealand and the Philippines have also been invited to the meetings of the ACC.