(Finance) – After almost four decades, the Italian Claudio Borio, one of the most internationally respected economists and expert in finance and banking, he will retire at the end of the year and leave BRI (Bis in English), the Basel-based Bank for International Settlements, known as the ‘central bank of central banks’. He communicates this in a statement where he pays tribute to “Borio’s excellent work and contribution” to economic research and cooperation between central banks “during his long career at BRI” where he joined in 1987 and in which he reached the position of head of the economic and monetary department.
Borio is recognized in the environment as one of the few to have warned in time of the 2008 financial crisis and having highlighted in recent years the difficulties of the banking system and policies, as well as the risks to financial stability deriving from high debt. Hyun Song Shin will replace him in Basel, current Economic Advisor and Head of Economic Research. Another appointment decided by the BRI board, of which the Governor of the Bank of Italy Fabio Panetta is also a member by right, is that of Luis Bengoechea as Head of the Banking Department.
Born in Ivrea but raised from an early age in Argentina where he attended Italian school, Borio brought with him a range of international experiences culminating in a prestigious academic education at Oxford. Before joining the BIS, from 1985 to 1987, he worked at the OECD.
The announcement of his retirement marks the end of an era, but his legacy promises to be everlasting.