Jaime Caruana as been tapped to succeed Malcolm Knight as general manager of the Bank for International Settlements, the BIS said Friday.

His appointment takes effect on April 1 2009, and is for a five-year term. Caruana is currently counsellor and director of the International Monetary Fund’s Monetary and Capital Markets Department, a position he has held since 2006. Prior to this, he was governor of the Bank of Spain for six years, serving on the European Central Bank’s Governing Council. Between 2003 and 2006, he was chairman of the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision and has been a member of the Financial Stability Forum since 2003.

A nomination committee headed by Jean-Pierre Roth, chairman of the BIS board of directors, recommended Caruana’s selection to the full board. In announcing the appointment, Roth said, “The board of directors is delighted to have secured a person of Mr Caruana’s calibre and international experience to be the next BIS general manager. He is held in high regard in the central banking and international financial communities.”

IE