New Chairman of the Committee on Payment and Settlement Systems

The Governors of the central banks of the Group of Ten countries have today appointed Mr. Wendelin Hartmann as Chairman of the Committee on Payment and Settlement Systems (CPSS). Mr. Hartmann will succeed Mr. William J. McDonough, who has chaired the CPSS since 1994 and who was appointed by the Governors in June as Chairman of the Basle Committee on Banking Supervision. Mr. Hartmann is a member of the Directorate of the Deutsche Bundesbank and until recently served as Chairman of the Working Group on EU Payment Systems. He has been a member of the CPSS since its establishment in 1990.

The Governors express their appreciation for the contribution which Mr. McDonough has made to international efforts aimed at reducing risks and increasing efficiency in payment and settlement systems. During his chairmanship of the CPSS, the G-10 central banks have successfully implemented a high-level strategy to reduce risks in the settlement of foreign exchange transactions (a follow-up report of the Committee on this issue is also being released today). They have also addressed policy issues relating to wholesale and retail payment systems, increased their cooperation with banking supervisors and securities market regulators and established or broadened cooperation with central banks outside the Group of Ten. All these activities have greatly contributed to improving financial market infrastructures worldwide.

The Governors expect the Committee on Payment and Settlement Systems to work towards further strengthening global central bank cooperation on payment systems issues wherever possible. In particular, they look forward to the Committee's developing and implementing a set of core principles for payment and settlement systems.