People in the News

The Japanese government has appointed academic Kazuo Ueda as the next Bank of Japan Governor. He was a member of the BoJ’s policy board between 1998 and 2005, and before that an economics professor at the University of Tokyo. He will succeed Haruhiko Kuroda, whose second five-year term ends in April.

Aivo Andrianarivelo, an IMF Executive Director, has been appointed Governor of the Central Bank of Madagascar, replacing Henri Rabarijohn, who has stepped down for health reasons.

Christian Kettel Thomsen has been announced as the new Governor of Danmarks Nationalbank, succeeding Lars Rodhe, who is retiring after a 10year term. He was formerly Vice-President at the European Investment Bank, and has previously served as Permanent Secretary of State for the Prime Minister’s Office and Permanent Secretary of State for Finance.

Elizabeth Genia has been appointed Acting Governor of the Bank of Papua New Guinea, succeeding Benny Popoitai. She is currently Assistant Governor for Corporate Services.

Emmanuel Tutuba, a senior civil servant in Tanzania’s Finance Ministry, has been appointed Governor of the Bank of Tanzania, succeeding Florens Luoga, whose five-year term ended last month.

Mamo Mihretu has been nominated as the new Governor of the Central Bank of Ethiopia. Once confirmed by parliament, he will succeed Yinager Dessie, who has been Governor since 2018.

The Central Bank of Cuba has replaced Marta Sabina Wilson González as Governor with Joaquín Alonso Vázquez.

Former Finance Minister Tatafu Moeaki has been named as the new Governor of the National Reserve Bank of Tonga, replacing Sione Ngongo Kioa.

The Iranian government appointed Mohamed Reza Farzin the new governor of the Central Bank of Iran on 29 December. He replaces Ali Salehabadi, who recently resigned.

The Governor of the Central Bank of Iraq, Mustafa Ghaleb Mukheef, has been removed from office and replaced as Acting Governor by Muhsen al-Allaq, who led the Bank from 2014 to 2020.

The Central Bank of Barbados has appointed Kevin Greenidge as its next Governor, succeeding Cleviston Haynes.

Ayman Alsayari has been appointed Governor of the Saudi Central Bank. He was previously Vice-Governor and succeeds Fahad Almubarak.

Viktor Zaivenko, Director of the Department of Money Circulation of the National Bank of Ukraine has retired. Oksana Halyts, currently Deputy Director, will serve as interim Director pending the appointment of his successor.

The Royal Mint has announced the appointment of Paul Morgan, Head of Coin Design, to the King’s Assay Master role, the responsibility of which is to serve the reigning monarch and ensure the integrity of British coinage through testing the quality of the coins and precious metals, as well as upholding the integrity of UK hallmarking standards by auditing the four UK hallmarking offices annually.

Dr Andreas Hirschfelder 

LEONHARD KURZ, the thin film, finishing and foil specialist, has announced that long-serving CEOs Walter and Peter Kurz have retired from the operational side of the business and taken up advisory functions as Chairman and Deputy Chairman of an Advisory Board. Dr Andreas Hirschfelder, previously Senior Vice President of the plastic decoration business area, becomes the new CEO. A doctor in organic chemistry, he has been with the company for 26 years.

Sergio Sánchez is joining Currency Research as Vice President/Director – Americas. Sergio has more than 25 years of professional experience, with 18 years’ senior roles in the banknote/cash industry. He has worked with many multinationals in the sector, including Citigroup, De La Rue, G+D and Permaquim, working closely with central banks, issuing banks/authorities, commercial banks, CITs, casinos and retailers. He replaces Shaun Ferrari, who left at the end of last year to join the Digital Dollar Project.

Sergio Sánchez

Currency News™ has announced the appointment of four new members to its editorial advisory board. They are Antti Heinonen (former Director of Banknotes at the European Central Bank and, latterly, Chairman of the Banknote Ethics Initiative), Michael Lambert (former Associate Director of the Federal Reserve System), Tsuyohsi Uematsu (former Director of the International Relations Office of Japan’s banknote printer, the National Printing Bureau) and Lydia Yip (formerly Head of Currency for the Hong Kong Monetary Authority and now an advisor to central banks).

They replace Michael Boehm, Raul Sierra, Maarten Brouwer and Mark Crickett, who have all stepped down after serving for several years on the board.