Janet Cosier Appointed Chair of Canadian Payments Association

The Bank of Canada announced today that Janet Cosier, Adviser to the Governor, has been appointed Chair of the Board of Directors of the Canadian Payments Association.

Mrs. Cosier, who holds degrees from York University and the University of Windsor, is a Certified Management Accountant. She joined the Bank of Canada in 1980 and served in a variety of functions including Comptroller and Chief Accountant, as well as Internal Auditor, before being appointed Adviser in 1992. She has also been active on board committees of the Society of Management Accountants of Ontario and the Financial Management Institute of Canada (Capital Chapter).

"I'm looking forward to becoming involved with the CPA at a time of exciting developments in the payments field, including new legislation containing the most significant changes for the association since its creation 20 years ago," commented Mrs. Cosier. "Millions of transactions conducted by Canadians each day rely on the safety and efficiency of the payments system operated by the CPA. I look forward to working with CPA members and stakeholders to help ensure that Canada continues to have a world-class payments system."

The CPA is a non-profit association created by an Act of Parliament in 1980. Its mandate is to operate a national clearing and settlement system and plan the evolution of the national payments system. Its current membership includes almost all of Canada's bank and non-bank deposit-taking financial institutions. Proposed legislation will extend eligibility for membership to life insurance companies, securities dealers, and money-market mutual funds. CPA systems now settle transactions totalling $120 billion per day on average.

Mrs. Cosier succeeds Serge Vachon, Adviser to the Governor, who served in the position from the creation of the CPA 20 years ago until he stepped down at the end of 2000. Mr. Vachon will be retiring from the Bank of Canada at the end of March 2001. Mrs. Cosier would like to convey the appreciation of the CPA for the leadership that Mr. Vachon provided during his tenure as Chair.