Mark Carney

Mark Carney
8th Governor of the Bank of Canada
Incumbent
Assumed office February 1, 2008
Preceded by	David A. Dodge
Chairman of the Financial Stability Board
Incumbent
Assumed office 4 November 2011
Preceded by	Mario Draghi
Personal details
Born	March 16, 1965 (1965-03-16) (age 46) Fort Smith, Northwest Territories
Nationality	Canada
Spouse(s)	Diana Carney (4 children)
Alma mater	Harvard University Nuffield College, Oxford
Occupation	Economist

Mark J. Carney (born March 16, 1965)^[1] is the eighth and current governor of the Bank of Canada and the Chairman of the Financial Stability Board. These appointments were on October 4, 2007 (for a seven-year term), and on November 4, 2011 (for a three-year term).^[2][3] Carney achieved these positions by working his way up the ranks of Goldman Sachs, the Canadian Department of Finance, and the Bank of Canada as Deputy Governor. Carney has been credited with shielding Canada from the worst effects of the late-2000s financial crisis, and has earned recognition by the Financial Times and TIME magazine as a top figure in the financial world.

Early life

Mark Carney was born in Fort Smith, Northwest Territories. His father Bob was a high school principal there, and later a professor of education at the University of Alberta in Edmonton, Alberta, where the family moved when Carney was six years old. Carney has three siblings — older brother Sean, younger brother Brian and sister Brenda. His mother Verlie was an elementary school teacher before having her children. Carney and his brothers all studied at Harvard University.^[4]

Carney completed a bachelor's degree in economics from Harvard in 1988. He later attended Nuffield College, Oxford, where he received a master's in economics in 1993 and a doctorate in economics in 1995.^[5]

Career

Goldman Sachs

Before joining the Canadian public service, Carney spent thirteen years with Goldman Sachs in its London, Tokyo, New York and Toronto offices. His progressively more senior positions included co-head of sovereign risk; executive director, emerging debt capital markets; and managing director, investment banking. He worked on South Africa's post-apartheid venture into international bond markets, and was involved in Goldman's work with the 1998 Russian financial crisis.^[4]

Goldman's role in the Russian crisis was criticized at the time because while the company was advising Russia it was simultaneously betting against the country's ability to repay its debt.^[6]

Department of Finance

Between November 2004 and October 2007 Carney was senior associate deputy minister, and G7 deputy, at the Canadian Department of Finance. He served under Liberal finance minister Ralph Goodale and Conservative finance minister Jim Flaherty. During that time Carney oversaw the government's controversial plan to tax income trusts at source.^[7]

Carney was also the "point man" in the government's profitable sale of its 19 percent stake in Petro-Canada.^[8][9]

Bank of Canada

Deputy governor, 2003-2004

Carney first joined the Bank of Canada as a deputy governor on August 5, 2003.^[10] About a year later he was seconded to the federal Department of Finance as senior associate deputy minister of finance, effective November 15, 2004.^[11]

Mark Carney at the 2010 World Economic Forum, Davos, Switzerland

Governor, 2008-present

Carney returned to the Bank in November 2007 after his appointment as Governor, and served as advisor to retiring Governor David Dodge before formally assuming Dodge's job on February 1, 2008.^[2] Carney was selected over Paul Jenkins, the Senior Deputy Governor who had been considered the front-runner to succeed Dodge.^[12] Carney took on this role during the depths of the recent global financial crisis. At the time of his appointment, Carney was the youngest central bank governor among the G8 and G20 groups of nations.^[13]

The financial crisis

Carney's actions as the Bank of Canada's governor are said to have played a major role in helping Canada avoid the worst impacts of the recent global financial crisis.^[14][15] The Canadian economy outperformed those of its G7 peers during the crisis, and Canada was the first G7 nation to have both its GDP and employment recover to pre-crisis levels.

The Bank's decision to provide substantial additional liquidity to the Canadian financial system,^[16] and its unusual step of announcing a commitment to keep interest rates at their lowest possible level for one year,^[17] appear to have been significant contributors to Canada's weathering of the crisis.^[18]

Canada's risk-averse fiscal and regulatory environment is also cited as a factor. In 2009 a Newsweek columnist wrote, "Canada has done more than survive this financial crisis. The country is positively thriving in it. Canadian banks are well capitalized and poised to take advantage of opportunities that American and European banks cannot seize."^[19]

Financial Stability Board

On November 4, 2011, Carney was approved as the new chairman of the Financial Stability Board. His appointment had been rumoured for months. In a statement Carney credited his appointment to "the strong reputation of Canada's financial system and the leading role that Canada has played in helping to develop many of the most important international reforms." The three-year term is a part-time commitment, allowing Carney to complete his term at the Bank of Canada. While there has been no indication of his priorities as chairman, on the day of his appointment the Board published a list of 29 banks that were considered sufficiently large as to pose a risk to the global economy should they fail.^[20][21]

Recognition

Carney has earned various accolades for his leadership during the financial crisis. He was named one of the Financial Times' Fifty who will frame the way forward,^[22] and of Time magazine's 2010 TIME 100.^[23] In May 2011 Reader's Digest magazine named him Editor's Choice for Most Trusted Canadian.^[24]

He sits on the board of directors of the Bank for International Settlements and is chairman of its Committee on the Global Financial System.^[25] Carney is also a member of the Group of Thirty, an international body of leading financiers and academics.^[26]

Personal life

Carney married his wife Diana, an economist specializing in developing nations, while he was finishing his doctoral thesis in the mid-1990s. They have four daughters and live in the Rockcliffe Park neighbourhood in Ottawa.^[4]

As a Harvard University student in the 1980s Carney was back-up goalie for the school's hockey team.^[27]

References

1. ^ "Bank of Canada's Mark Carney". CBC. http://www.cbc.ca/news/interactives/carney-mark/. Retrieved 2011-11-19. 
2. ^ ^{a b} "Mark Carney Appointed Governor of the Bank of Canada." Bank of Canada press release. 2007-10-04.
3. ^ "New Bank of Canada governor named". Globe and Mail. 2007-10-04.
4. ^ ^{a b c} Scoffield, Heather (2008-01-26). "Mark Carney takes up his mission". Toronto: The Globe and Mail. pp. B1, B4–5. http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/mark-carney-takes-up-his-mission/article662945/page1. Retrieved 2008-01-29. 
5. ^ "Mark Carney named next Bank of Canada governor". CBC News. 2007-10-04. http://www.cbc.ca/money/story/2007/10/04/bankgov.html?ref=rss. Retrieved 2008-01-04. 
6. ^ Kahn, Joseph (1998-10-18). "For Russia and Its U.S. Bankers, Match Wasn't Made in Heaven". The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/1998/10/18/business/easy-money-special-report-for-russia-its-us-bankers-match-wasn-t-made-heaven.html?pagewanted=1. Retrieved 2010-05-19. 
7. ^ "Playing a new game, in a new arena". Globe and Mail. 2007-10-04. Retrieved 2011-02-11.
8. ^ "The governor gets his hands dirty." Globe and Mail. 2009-08-26. Retrieved 2011-02-11.
9. ^ "Key facts on Mark Carney, next Bank of Canada chief". Reuters. 2007-10-04. Retrieved 2011-02-11.
10. ^ "Bank of Canada announces Deputy Governor appointments" Bank of Canada press release.
11. ^ "Deputy Governor Mark Carney appointed Senior Associate Deputy Minister of Finance" Bank of Canada press release.
12. ^ Parkinson, David (2009-10-29). "Paul Jenkins leaving Bank of Canada". The Globe and Mail (Toronto). http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/paul-jenkins-leaving-bank-of-canada/article1344099/. 
13. ^ Vieira, Paul (2007-10-04). "Carney vaults over heir apparent for Bank of Canada top job". National Post. http://www.financialpost.com/story.html?id=4e6b4073-de51-4ab2-b79c-626e93627b45&k=8869. Retrieved 2008-01-04. 
14. ^ "Carney Shows How Canada Controls Risk So Central Banks Can Too". Bloomberg. 2009-11-20. Retrieved 2011-02-11.
15. ^ "Mark Carney: Interesting times". CBC News. 2011-01-31. Retrieved 2011-02-11.
16. ^ "Bank of Canada Liquidity Actions in Response to the Financial Market Turmoil." Bank of Canada Review article. Autumn 2009.
17. ^ "Bank of Canada lowers overnight rate target by 1/4 percentage point to 1/4 per cent..." Bank of Canada press release. 2009-04-21.
18. ^ "Bank for International Settlements Staff Report for the 2010 Article IV Consultation". Retrieved 2011-02-11.
19. ^ "Worthwhile Canadian Initiative". Newsweek. 2007-02-09. Retrieved 2011-02-11.
20. ^ Reguly, Eric (4 November 2011). "Carney takes reins of global banking watchdog". The Globe and Mail. http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/international-news/carney-takes-reins-of-global-banking-watchdog/article2225184/. Retrieved 4 November 2011. 
21. ^ Mark Deen, Carney Said to Be Lead Candidate for FSB Role as Decision Looms Bloomberg News 16 October 2011
22. ^ "Fifty who will frame a way forward". Financial Times. 2009-03-10. Retrieved 2011-02-11.
23. ^ "The 2010 TIME 100". Time. 2010-04-29. Retrieved 2011-02-11.
24. ^ "One-on-One with Mark Carney". Reader's Digest. 2011-05. Retrieved 2011-05-10.
25. ^ BIS press release. Retrieved 2011-02-11.
26. ^ Group of Thirty website. Retrieved 2011-05-10.
27. ^ "Mark Carney takes up his mission". Globe and Mail. 2008-01-25. Retrieved 2011-02-11.

Persondata
Name	Carney, Mark
Alternative names
Short description	Governor of the Bank of Canada
Date of birth	March 16, 1965
Place of birth	Fort Smith, Northwest Territories, Canada
Date of death
Place of death