Dinner with Alex Karrer

8:15 Apéro

18:45 Presentation

“Challenges and Perspectives in the International Monetary System”
by Alex Karrer
Ambassador, Deputy State Secretary
Head of Multilateral Affairs Division
State Secretariat for International Finance SIF Federal Department of Finance FDF

19:30 Dinner

Alexander Karrer was born in 1957 in Zurich, Switzerland. He graduated in 1981 with a degree in Political Science and International Relations from the Graduate Institute of International Studies in Geneva.
Mr. Karrer started his professional career in 1981 in the Trade Policy Division of the Secretariat of the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) in Geneva. From 1982‐1987 he worked as an Executive Member at the Geneva Chamber of Commerce and Industry. In 1987 Mr. Karrer joined the Administration and first served for several years in the Federal Department of Economy as a negotiator in the GATT Uruguay Round of International Trade Talks. In 1992 he took up an assignment at the Swiss Embassy in Tokyo as a counsellor for Economic and Financial Affairs. From 1996 he served as a personal advisor to the Minister of Finance Kaspar Villiger, who also served as President of the Swiss Confederation in 2002. In May 2002, Mr. Karrer was appointed Ambassador by the Swiss Federal Council. In this function he dealt intensively with international finance issues. Since July 2002, he has been in charge of the International Finance and Monetary Policy Division of the Federal Department of Finance. His responsibilities include issues of financial services regulation, monetary policy, the policy of Switzerland towards the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and other international financial institutions such as the Financial Action Task Force on Money Laundering (FATF). In December 2009, the Swiss Federal Council elected him Deputy State Secretary of the newly created State Secretariat for International Financial Matters. The State Secretariat is responsible for the coordination and strategic management of international financial, monetary and tax affairs.
Mr. Karrer is married and has one daughter.