Toronto, Canada (May 5th, 2010): John Palmer, Chair of the Toronto Centre, is pleased to announce the appointment of Babak Abbaszadeh as Chief Executive Officer effective June 1, 2010. Accountable to the Board of Directors, Mr. Abbaszadeh will be responsible for all aspects of the organization’s strategic and operational activities.

With more than 20 years of experience in public policy and stakeholder relations in the private sector, government, agencies, and NGOs, Babak has held leadership roles in highly regulated sectors such as financial services, energy, and natural resources. He has worked closely with financial regulators in Canada and led advocacy strategies for major internationally-oriented Canadian financial institutions. From 2006 to 2009 he was the Director of Stakeholder Relations at the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board. He also served as Director of Government and Industry Relations at Sun Life Financial from 1998 to 2003, a period that coincided with a major overhaul of financial services in Canada. From 2004 to 2006, Babak held senior positions in the Ontario government including the Chief of Staff to two Ministers of Energy.

“Babak was selected following an international search. He is a strategic and outcome-focused professional with strong client relationship skills. He has a proven ability to create partnerships with a wide range of international stakeholders and draws on a broad background in the financial sector,” said Palmer. “These attributes strengthen the Toronto Centre’s role in enhancing the capacity of financial regulators from around the world to improve their agencies’ crisis preparedness and to promote changes leading to robust financial systems, which underpin growth and stability in the national economies and the global economy as a whole.”

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Toronto Leadership Centre

Founded in 1997 by the Canadian Government, the World Bank, and the Schulich School of Business at York University, the Toronto Centre assists senior financial supervisors from around the globe to supervise more effectively and improve the financial systems and societies of which they are a part. This contributes to a stronger global financial system. Today, the Centre receives core financial support from the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the Swedish International Development Agency (Sida), the World Bank, project support from the FIRST Initiative, and also ATTF Luxembourg, USAID, among others.