BIS Appoints Regional Innovation Hub Heads

As it continues to drive forward work on central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) especially, the Bank for International Settlements’ Innovation Hub has named the heads of its London, Nordic and Toronto regional hubs.

Francesca Hopwood Road will lead the Hub’s London centre. She is currently head of regulation technology and advanced analytics at the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority. The London centre was opening June, at the same time as the Nordic office, for which Beju Shah has been named the head. Based in Stockholm, he is presently special advisor for Digital Innovation at the Bank of England.

Finally, Miguel Díaz will run the Toronto centre, which will open in early 2022. He is currently general director of payment systems and market infrastructures at the Bank of Mexico.

Benoît Cœuré

All three will start in their new roles in early 2022. “I am delighted to welcome Francesca, Beju and Miguel to the BIS Innovation Hub,” says Benoît Cœuré, head of BIS Innovation Hub globally. “Between them, they bring extensive and diverse technological and policy experience. They will be instrumental in catalysing the vibrant innovation capacities of the Hub’s focus areas, which include CBDCs, next generation financial market infrastructures, suptech and regtech, open finance, green finance and cyber security.

The centres are operated in collaboration with host central banks: the Bank of England for London, and the central banks of Denmark, Iceland, Norway and Sweden collectively for the Nordic centre. The Toronto centre will open in 2022 in collaboration with the Bank of Canada. It will serve as a key platform for central bank innovation in the Western Hemisphere.