Bank of Korea Governor Shin Hyun-song appointed BIS CPMI Chairman... Establishment of payment standards

(Seoul = Yonhap News) Reporter Chae Sae-rom = Bank of Korea Governor Shin Hyun-song was appointed as the head of an international committee that establishes international standards in the field of payments, including tokenization.

The Bank of Korea announced on the 10th that Governor Shin was appointed as the chairman of the Committee on Payments and Market Infrastructure (CPMI) after consultation with member countries at the World Economic Council of the Bank for International Settlements (BIS).

CPMI is one of the key consultative bodies between central banks under the BIS Council of Governors, along with the Committee on Global Financial Systems (CGFS) and the Market Committee (MC). In particular, unlike other affiliated organizations, it establishes international standards related to payment systems and financial market infrastructure.

In response to the 2008 financial crisis, CPMI jointly established the 'Principles on Financial Market Infrastructure' in 2012 with the International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO), which is the highest international standard that financial market infrastructure must comply with.

This is the first time that a central bank governor outside of the United States and Europe serves as CPMI chairman.

Previous chairs have been high-ranking figures from major central banks in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Europe, and the immediate past chairman was Fabio Panetta, governor of the Bank of Italy.

The Bank of Korea commented that this appointment of chairman is the result of the international community's recognition of Governor Shin's international reputation, as well as the fact that the Bank of Korea has accumulated expertise in the field of future payments, such as digitization and tokenization.

Governor Shin served as Director of Research and Director of Monetary and Economic Affairs at BIS, and has led research and policy discussions related to next-generation payment systems such as digital currency and cross-border payments.

The Bank of Korea expected that with Governor Shin's appointment as chairman, the Bank of Korea will be able to strengthen its leadership in the global financial community by taking the lead in establishing international standards in the payment sector.

Lee Byeong-mok, head of the Bank of Korea's Financial Settlement Department, said, "The appointment of the chairman will be a milestone for Korean finance in that the Bank of Korea has played a major role in leading the global financial order and establishing related standards."

He continued, “During his term as president, CPMI will focus on promoting digital innovation such as tokenization, reducing cross-border remittance costs, and artificial intelligence (AI)-based payments.”

The term of office for the chairman is three years from the 1st of this month.