Who could be the next leader of the BIS Innovation Hub? – General ledger information

Thursday, Benôit Coeuré, the founding leader of the BIS Innovation Hub, announced his appointment as head of the Competition Authority. The BIS Innovation Hub is best known for its work on Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs) around the world, but it is also involved in green bond issuance, regtech, cybersecurity, and new market infrastructure. financial.

Assuming that Coeuré’s appointment is confirmed, we analyze who could be the new leader. We would bet on Bénédicte Nolens, who runs one of the first Innovation Hubs in Hong Kong.

Before the announcement of CÅ“uré’s appointment in early December, the BRI organized an event on the new European Innovation Hub divided between Paris and Frankfurt and scheduled to launch in 2022. During this session, we suspected CÅ“uré of start on the basis of two observations.

First, the Governor of the Banque de France, François Villeroy de Galhau, made a comment on Coeuré. “I pay tribute to Benôit for your specific involvement today. You will remain the founding father of this BIS Innovation Hub ”, declared the governor.

Second, there was a discussion between three central bank heads and the staff of the Eurosystem’s central banks, which Bénédicte Nolens moderated. Although Nolens is Belgian, she is based in Hong Kong. Coming in the wake of the French governor’s tribute to Coeuré, this has sown the question of whether she could be his replacement. Or at least she was considered for the role.

And that makes a lot of sense.

Who is Bénédicte Nolens?

First of all, Nolens has an almost perfect CV for the role. She is a lawyer by training, spent 15 years in banking (Goldman Sachs, Credit Suisse), six years as a regulator (Hong Kong’s Securities and Futures Commission, IOSCO) and two in innovation before joining the BIS. In the latter case, she worked for a year at the stablecoin Circle company and spent another year at SC Ventures (Standard Chartered).

But it’s more than that. Listening to her speech at Hong Kong Fintech Week, she has a real enthusiasm for innovation. And the people she works with seem to respond positively to her.

There is nothing more international than the BIS. Nolens holds a Belgian degree and two degrees from the University of Chicago. She was called to the New York Bar and has lived in Hong Kong since 1997. This is where her children were born.

Nolens is also currently managing a project that requires great diplomacy, the M-CBDC Bridge project involving the central banks of Thailand, Hong Kong, China and the United Arab Emirates. Having a person like Nolens who can bridge the gap between East and West seems necessary for the BIS Innovation Hub.

One of the major risks of innovation going forward is that the global financial system will become fragmented. If new payment systems like M-CBDC Bridge go into production, SWIFT’s role in global payments could decline. Someone like Nolens could play a key role in promoting the collaboration.

We contacted BIS to confirm plans for a new BIS Innovation Hub leader. “At the moment, the BIS is not commenting on a successor,” a spokesperson said.