Mr. Ralph Lewars was appointed to the Board in May 2024. He has over 30 years experience in financial sector regulation and supervision. Between 2017 and 2022, he was the Financial Sector Supervision and Regulation Advisor at the International Monetary Fund - Caribbean Regional Technical Assistance Centre (IMF-CARTAC). At the CARTAC, he led several bilateral and regional technical assistance missions with a view towards building capacity and effectiveness at the regional, and national levels to undertake regulation and supervision of banks, insurance firms, securities firms, and credit unions across the 23 member countries of the CARTAC. More recently, he has served as a consultant and advisor to several Regulatory agencies in the Caribbean on banking and insurance supervision.
His professional experience includes 17 years at the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions - Canada (OSFI). At OSFI, he was assigned to the International Advisory Group (IAG) from 2003 to 2010 - his principal responsibilities included conducting needs assessments and providing hands-on technical advice and training in the areas of bank and insurance company supervision and regulation in the Caribbean, Asia, Latin America, Africa, Central and Eastern Europe. Before joining the OSFI, Mr. Lewars played a major role in the establishment and initial operation of the Jamaica Deposit Insurance Corporation (JDIC). Prior to the JDIC, he was an Assistant Director at the Bank of Jamaica (Central Bank) - Research and Economic Programming Division. Between 2010 and 2012, Mr. Lewars served in the capacity of Resident Advisor to the Superintendent of Banks in the Dominican Republic.
He holds BSc and MSc degrees in Economics from the University of the West Indies, and an MBA in International Banking and Finance from the University of Birmingham, UK.
