Mr. Masaru Tanaka is an internationally active expert in the various areas of central banking. He has had a 30year career at the Bank of Japan (BOJ), specializing on macro-economic research, financial institutions supervision, foreign exchange and open market operations, credit management and regional economy oversite. His expertise was reflected in the implementation of the Basel I, developing the risk assessing on-site examination techniques, renovating the global payment and settlement systems, and defining the ISO standardization of IC (chip) cards. 

Starting from his secondment to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in 1982, Mr. Tanaka has been engaged in missions to Japan, Libya, Austria and Malta from Washington, D.C. and later on designated as an IMF Consultant from BOJ extending technical assistance to former planned economies (Bulgaria, Russia, Azerbaijan), as well as to countries requiring specific central banking operations (China, Korea). In addition, he has been stationed in the Central Bank of United Arabic Emirates as a Senior Advisor to the Governor, as well was in the Central Bank of Myanmar as the IMF Advisor to the Governor.

Mr. Tanaka has led the BOJ’s Center for Monetary Cooperation in Asia, responsible for overlooking regional institutional strategies of EMEAP (Executive Meeting of East Asia and Pacific Central Banks) and ASEAN+3, as well as regional bilateral relationships including India. 

Currently, Mr. Tanaka as the Advisor to the Minister of Finance of Ukraine, supported by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), is focused on the implementation of the state-owned banks stabilization reform and their non-performing loans resolution strategies launched in early 2016.