BIS Unveils New Innovation Hub Head

Cecilia Skingsley, first deputy governor of Sveriges Riksbank, has been appointed to head the BIS Innovation Hub. She replaces Benoît Coeuré, who announced his departure earlier this year to head up France’s Competition Authority.

Skingsley will commence her role on September 14 for a five-year term, she will also become a member of the executive committee of the Bank for International Settlements.

She takes the helm of the Innovation Hub as it establishes a global footprint across eight locations around the world. Five BIS Innovation Hub Centres are already operating in Hong Kong SAR, London, Singapore, Stockholm (for the Nordic countries) and Switzerland. Two more Hub Centres, in Frankfurt/Paris (for the Eurosystem) and Toronto, are expected to open later this year. The Innovation Hub also has a strategic artnership with the Federal Reserve System in place.

The Innovation Hub serves as a platform for central bank collaboration in building technological solutions to problems in the financial sector. It develops technology projects focused on priority themes such as central bank digital currencies (CBDCs), next-generation financial market infrastructures, supervisory and regulatory technology, open finance, cyber security and green finance. It also monitors critical trends in technology affecting central banking, and serves as a focal point for a network of over 200 central bank experts on innovation.

“Cecilia Skingsley is a highly respected leader on issues of innovation within the international community,” the BIS says. “She has played a pivotal role in advancing key international initiatives directed towards the development of CBDCs.”