MAS chief Ravi Menon to head BIS Asian Consultative Council

MONETARY Authority of Singapore (MAS) managing director Ravi Menon has been appointed chairman of the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) Asian Consultative Council (ACC).

Mr Menon's appointment is for two years from Sept 26, BIS said in a statement on Thursday.

The ACC is a vehicle for communication between BIS shareholding central banks in the Asia-Pacific region and the BIS on matters of interest and concern to regional central banks. It also provides guidance for the research and banking activities of the BIS's Asian office.

Mr Menon succeeds Veerathai Santiprabhob, governor of the Bank of Thailand, who has chaired the council since September 2017.

The ACC consists of the governors of the BIS member central banks in the Asia-Pacific region. These central banks are those of Australia, China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, New Zealand, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand.

The BIS Representative Office for Asia and the Pacific, located in Hong Kong, serves as the secretariat for the ACC.

The BIS is an international organisation that serves central banks and other financial authorities to build a greater collective understanding of the world economy, foster international cooperation among them and support them in the pursuit of global monetary and financial stability.

It announced in June that it will set up an innovation hub centre in Singapore.