Abu Dhabi, 19 Oct. 2010 (WAM) - The United Arab Emirates Central Bank s Board of Directors, in accordance with the Article (23) of Union Law No (10) of 1980 concerning the Central Bank, the Monetary System and Organization of Banking, has formed the International Advisory Council.

Dr. Robert Mundell, Dr. David Dodge, Dr. Joseph Yam, and Sir John Bond were selected as members of this Council.

The Central Bank Board of Directors held first International Advisory Council meeting on October 18, 2010. In this meeting, the Board discussed and took advice on specific matters facing the United Arab Emirates Banking, Financial and Monetary regulations, and the Central Bank organization structure.

The Board Chairman H.E. Khalil Al Foulathi and Governor H.E. Sultan Al Suwaidi noted that it is imperative to listen to independent objective views and learn from the diverse experience that these Council Members bring to the table.

In a world of highly challenging and rapidly changing financial landscape. the UAE Central Bank needs to learn from the experiences of this group to improve the UAE's financial and monetary stability and Central Bank governance.

Professor Robert Mundell is presently professor of economics at New York's Columbia University the USA. In 1970 , as the chair of University of Waterloo, he laid the groundwork for the introduction of the Euro through his pioneering work in monetary dynamics and optimum currency forms for which he won the 1999 Nobel Prize in Economics.

In 2002, Professor Mundell was made a Companion of the Order of Canada, in June 2005, he was awarded the Global Economics Prize World Economics Institute in Kiel, Germany, and in September 2005, he was made a Cavaliere di Gran Croce del Reale Ordine del Merito sorto il Titolo di San Ludovico by Principe Don Carlo Ugo di Borbone Parma.

Professor Mundell is a regular visitor to China and advices the Chinese authorities on monetary issues. The Mundell International University of Entrepreneurship in the Zhongguancun district of Beijing, People's Republic of China, is named in his honor.

Dr. David Dodge started his career by teaching economics at Queen's University in Canada. He held senior positions in the Central Mortgage and Housing Corporation, the Anti-Inflation Board, the Department of Employment and Immigration, and the Department of Finance in Canada.

From 1992 to 1997 he became the Deputy Minister of Finance and also served on the Bank of Canada's Board of Directors. In 1998 he was appointed Deputy Minister of Health, a position he held until his appointment as Governor of the Bank of Canada in February 2001 for a term of seven years till he retired in January 2008.

Dr. Dodge is currently Chancellor of Queen's University. He is Senior Advisor at Bennett Jones LLP, one of Canada's leading law firms and is a member of the board of directors of Canadian Utilities Limited, the CD. Howe Institute and the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research, Also, he co-chairs the Global Market Monitoring Group of the International Institute of Finance.

Dr. Joseph Yam started his career in 1971 with the Hong Kong Government Secretariat. In 1982, he was appointed a Principal Assistant Secretary for Monetary Affairs. In 1983 he helped put together Hong Kong's linked exchanged rate system and was subsequently appointed as the Director of the Exchange Fund in 1991.

During his tenure, he introduced several reforms to strengthen Hong Kong's monetary system, develop its financial markets, and contribute to its monetary stability and its development as an international financial center.

Dr. Yam was instrumental in establishing the Hong Kong Monetary Authority in 1993 and was appointed as its Chief Executive, a position he held till his retirement at the end of September 2009.

Presently Dr. Yam is the Executive Vice-President of the China Society for Finance and Banking and is a Distinguished Research Fellow at the newly established Institute of Global Economics and Finance at the Chinese University of Hong Kong.

Sir John Bond started his career with the Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation in 1961. He spent his early career in Hong Kong, Indonesia, Singapore, Thailand and the Middle East and later on was posted in the USA.

In 1993 he was appointed as HSBC Group CEO and in 1998 he took over as Group Chairman.

Between 1998 and 2003 he also chaired the Institute of International Finance. Sir John Bond stepped down as the Chairman of HSBC Holdings PLC in May 2006 after spending 45 years with the bank.

He is now the Chairman of Vodafone, a position he hits been holding since July 2006.

Copyright Emirates News Agency (WAM) 2010.