Following the Bank for International Settlement’s (BIS) annual meeting on Sunday, the BIS announced it is revising its statutes to alter its governance arrangements.

Among other things, the changes will reduce the total number of directors from 21 to 18; reduce the number of directors that are appointed by a group of ex officio directors from six to one; and, increase the number of elected directors from nine to 11.

The changes are intended to enhance the functioning of the board, and to improve the flexibility of the BIS to direct the composition of the board, the BIS says in its announcement. The changes will take effect in 2019.

Jens Weidmann, BIS chairman and president of the Deutsche Bundesbank, called the changes “a historic achievement” for the BIS. “It will significantly improve the balance between the different world regions represented on the board. This can only benefit the governance of the BIS as a global institution,” he says in a statement.