Malcolm Knight

Malcolm D. Knight is a Canadian economist, policymaker and banker.

He is currently Visiting Professor of Finance at the London School of Economics and Political Science and a Distinguished Fellow at the Center for International Governance Innovation.

From 1971 to 1975 Knight taught at the University of Toronto and then at the London School of Economics.

In 1975 Knight joined the Research Department of the International Monetary Fund, where he was an economist in the financial studies division before becoming Chief of external adjustment issues and then Assistant Director of the Research Department for developing country studies.

During 1985-86 Knight was an Academic Visitor at the Centre for Labour Economics, London School of Economics and Political Science, and he served for 11 years, until 1997, on the editorial board of the IMF Staff Papers.

In 1992 Knight moved to the operational departments of the IMF where he served, successively, as Deputy Director of the Middle East Department, the Monetary and Exchange Affairs Department, and the European 1 Department.

While at the IMF, Knight also served for many years as an adjunct professor with the Center for Canadian Studies at the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies.

In 1999 Knight was appointed Senior Deputy Governor of the Bank of Canada.

As the number two in Canada's central bank, Knight was its chief operating officer and a member of its board of directors.

His key duties included overseeing strategic planning and coordinating all the Bank's operations, acting for the Governor, and sharing responsibility for the conduct of monetary policy as a member of the Bank's Governing Council.

He served as general manager of the Bank for International Settlements from 2003 to 2008 and as Senior Deputy Governor of the Bank of Canada (1999-2003), after holding senior positions at the International Monetary Fund (1975-1999).

Malcolm Knight received an Honour B.A. in Political Science and Economics from the University of Toronto, where he was a member of the Alpha Delta Phi.

He later received a M.Sc.

(Economics) and Ph.D. degree from the London School of Economics and Political Science.

Malcolm Knight became General Manager and chief executive officer of the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) in April 2003.

He was the first person from outside Europe to hold this position.

In addition to his duties as CEO of the BIS during 2003–08, Knight was a Trustee of the International Accounting Standards Committee Foundation (now the IFRS Foundation), which oversees the work of the London-based International Accounting Standards Board in developing accounting standards that over 100 countries are committed to adopt.

During 2003-08 Knight was a member of the Financial Stability Forum (now the Financial Stability Board), reporting to the G8 and G20 finance ministers on vulnerabilities in the international financial system; and of the Capital Markets Consultative Group of the International Monetary Fund.

Knight was awarded an Honorary Doctorate by Trinity College, University of Toronto in 2006, and was inducted as a Member of the Johns Hopkins University Society of Scholars in May 2007.

In 2006 he was also inducted as a Member of the Honorary Senate of the Lindau Nobel Laureate Meetings.

From 2008 to 2012, Knight was Vice Chairman of Deutsche Bank Group where he was responsible for developing and coordinating the bank's global approach to issues in financial regulation, supervision, and financial stability.

On 20 June 2008, Knight announced that he would take a position with Deutsche Bank and that he would leave the BIS on 30 September 2008.

Knight was Vice Chairman of Deutsche Bank Global Group, based in New York, from October 2008 to March 2012, overseeing the firm's relationships and interaction with global regulators and central banks.

He has been a Visiting Professor of Finance at the London School of Economics and Political Science since September 2008.

During 2010 - 2014, Knight was a member of the Board of Directors of Swiss Re Ltd. After stepping down as Vice Chairman of Deutsche Bank in 2012 he continued to be a consultant to the bank until March 2014.

He currently serves on the Boards of the International Valuation Standards Council and the Global Risk Institute in Financial Services (Toronto), and he is a member of the International Advisory Council of the Risk Management Institute of the University of Singapore and the North American Advisory Board of the London School of Economics and Political Science.

In addition, Knight is a Trustee of the Per Jacobsson Foundation, which organises lectures by eminent figures in the economic and financial community, a member of the Board of Patrons of the European Association for Banking and Financial History, and a member of the Board of the New Jersey Center for the Visual Arts.