Ravi Menon to retire as Monetary Authority of Singapore names MD successor

The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) announced today (4 September) that the president of the Republic of Singapore has appointed Chia Der Jiun as managing director (designate), MAS from 1 November 2023 to 31 December 2023, and as managing director, MAS from 1 January 2024 to 31 May 2026. 

Chia will also be appointed a director on the MAS Board on 1 January 2024.

Chia takes over from Ravi Menon, who will retire from the Singapore Public Service and step down as managing director, MAS as well as from the MAS Board on 31 December 2023. 

Chia, who is currently permanent secretary (development) at the Ministry of Manpower (MOM), had previously spent 18 years at MAS, where he played a leadership role across MAS' major functions, including monetary policy implementation, reserve management, banking supervision, prudential policy, and macroeconomic surveillance. 

During his first 10 years in MAS, Chia played a key role in developing and implementing policies to restructure the local banking groups and to liberalise the banking sector.

He was instrumental in the set-up of the Singapore Deposit Insurance Corporation.  During the Global Financial Crisis in 2008, Chia led the conduct of financial stability assessments.  In 2011, he was seconded to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for two years as executive director for Southeast Asia, where he contributed to Board discussions and decisions on issues such as capital flow management, IMF financing programmes, and financial stability assessments.

In 2013, Chia was appointed Assistant Managing Director (Markets & Investment), and he subsequently led the review of the asset allocation of the Official Foreign Reserves. In 2019, Mr Chia was appointed Deputy Managing Director (Corporate Development). He strengthened the operational resilience of the national payment systems (GIRO, FAST, MEPS+) during the COVID-19 pandemic. He led the effort to transform MAS' technology architecture and corporate functions.

Chia has extensive experience in the broader Public Service. Prior to his stint in MAS, he served in the Ministry of Trade and Industry, Public Service Division, and the then-Ministry of the Environment and Water Resources.

Chia was appointed Second Permanent Secretary at MOM in 2020 and redesignated as Permanent Secretary (Development) at MOM in 2022.

The board of directors, management and staff of MAS thanked Menon for his visionary leadership as MAS' Managing Director since 2011 and outstanding contributions during his 29 years with MAS. During his first 16 years in MAS (1987-2003), Menon was involved in monetary policy, macroeconomic analysis, organisational development, banking regulation, and integrated supervision of complex financial institutions. 

As managing director, Menon has been the driving force behind MAS' initiatives to make Singapore's financial sector more resilient, innovative, and purposeful, the statement continued. 

Menon led the reform of Singapore's financial regulatory framework following the global financial crisis, strengthened the enforcement regime against money laundering and market misconduct, and developed MAS' macroprudential policies to ensure a sustainable property market.

Menon played a pivotal role in positioning Singapore as a leading FinTech hub.  He steered the growth of Singapore's electronic payment ecosystem, initiated a regulatory sandbox to promote experimentation, and oversaw the introduction of digital banking licences. 

As chairman of the Institute of Banking & Finance, Menon worked closely with industry leaders to strengthen skills upgrading, career conversion programmes, and leadership development in the financial sector workforce.

Menon spearheaded policies and strategies to build the financial sector's resilience to the risks posed by climate change and to develop a vibrant sustainable finance ecosystem in Singapore to help catalyse the region's decarbonisation.

During the COVID-19 economic crisis, Menon was instrumental in the swift introduction of innovative response measures, including new liquidity backstop facilities, low-cost funding for banks to better support SMEs, credit and insurance reliefs for individuals and SMEs, and schemes to accelerate digitalisation and workforce training in the financial sector. 

Menon has been actively involved in shaping the international financial regulatory agenda. He is Chairman of the Network for Greening the Financial System, an international coalition of more than 125 central banks and financial regulators, and a member of the G20 Financial Stability Board (FSB) Steering Committee.

He previously chaired the FSB Standing Committee on Standards Implementation (2013-2017) and the International Monetary and Financial Committee Deputies Meetings (2011-2015). 

Under Menon's leadership, MAS has won several international accolades, including being named in 2019 by the UK-based publication Central Banking as the Central Bank of the Year, for its "pioneering FinTech efforts combined with its consistency of performance in monetary policy, financial stability, and supervision".