Two appointments complete RBNZ Senior Leadership team

14 January 2019

Ms Simone Robbers and Mr Christian Hawkesby will join the Reserve Bank of New Zealand as Assistant Governors, Governor Adrian Orr announced today.

Their appointments complete the Reserve Bank’s new Senior Leadership Team structure announced in 2018.

Ms Simone Robbers will take up the new role of Assistant Governor and General Manager of Governance, Strategy and Corporate Relations on 18 February 2019.

Under Simone’s watch will be the Bank’s strategic planning and performance, communications, legal, risk and audit teams, and the Board secretariat. The strategic planning and performance unit is new and will be responsible for ensuring world class benchmarks are identified, measured and managed across all aspects of the Bank’s activities.

“The role will ensure Bank-wide strategies and relationship management have central coordination, such as our Te Ao Maori strategy, our climate change strategy, and the many regional and international relationships we must manage in the normal course of business,” Mr Orr said.

“Simone brings with her a wealth of public and private sector experience, most recently successfully managing the role of Director of Strategy, Risk and Assurance at the NZ Financial Markets Authority, as well as previous experience with the Securities Commission and in the private sector in banking and wealth management, and legal firms. We are privileged to have Simone join us.”

“It is also a great privilege to work beside the first two female Governors in the history of the Reserve Bank of New Zealand, with both Simone Robbers and Lindsay Jenkin (Assistant Governor / General Manager People and Culture) in the newly-formed Senior Leadership Team,” Mr Orr said.

Mr Christian Hawkesby will take up the new role of Assistant Governor and General Manager of Economics, Financial Markets and Banking on 18 March 2019.

Under Christian’s watch will be monetary policy formulation and research; monetary policy implementation and liquidity management, and foreign reserves management; and all matters relating to currency creation and distribution, including responsibility for the management of the payment and settlement system.

“Bringing these activities together provides end-to-end management of all of the monetary policy activities of the Bank, from currency creation and distribution through to the setting of the Official Cash Rate to meet the Bank’s monetary policy and currency mandates. Combining these efforts will create more depth of experience, and generate opportunities for innovation,” Mr Orr said.

Christian brings with him a wealth of public and private sector experience. Most recently Christian has been operating in the competitive asset management industry as a senior member of the Wellington-based Harbour Asset Management team. Christian, who worked at the Bank as a graduate early in his career, has significant experience in central banking, particularly at the Bank of England.

Christian worked as Head of Market Intelligence for the Bank of England during the extremely trying time of the global financial crisis, charged with bringing together disparate teams to share insight into the banking system and financial markets more generally for key decision makers.

“It is a real privilege to have Christian return to the Reserve Bank of New Zealand,” Mr Orr said.

The Reserve Bank’s Senior Leadership Team is now complete as follows:

Mr Adrian Orr, Governor and CEO

Mr Geoff Bascand, Deputy Governor and Deputy CEO / GM Financial Stability

Ms Lindsay Jenkin, Assistant Governor / GM People and Culture

Ms Simone Robbers, Assistant Governor / GM Governance, Strategy and Corporate Relations

Mr Patrick Hoerler, Assistant Governor / GM Business Operations

Mr Mike Wolyncewicz, Assistant Governor / Chief Financial Officer, and

Mr Christian Hawkesby, Assistant Governor / GM Economics, Financial Markets and Banking.

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