Appointment comes as NAFTA renegotiations continue, China increasingly asserts its presence on the world economic stage, the impact of Brexit remains uncertain, and protectionist and anti-globalist sentiments threaten the Western world.
WASHINGTON, DC – The Atlantic Council today named Bart J. Oosterveld as the new director of its Global Business and Economics Program and as the C. Boyden Gray Fellow on Global Finance and Growth. Mr. Oosterveld brings two decades of expertise in capital markets and credit ratings with Moody’s Investors Service, giving him unique insights into the ways governments, markets and companies interact in the global economy.
Mr. Oosterveld served in myriad roles at Moody’s Investors Service over the course of a nearly twenty-year tenure. His work at the nexus of finance and government will be an invaluable asset to the Global Business and Economics Program, which promotes transatlantic leadership to find multilateral solutions to today’s most vital and pressing global economic issues such as increasing protectionism, subdued economic growth, financial crime, and rising inequality. His extensive industry knowledge will help connect the work of the Global Business and Economics Program to the Council’s 11 other regional and functional programs and centers.
“With Bart, the council has gained a results-oriented, multi-lingual, private sector business leader who will bring his impressive skills to our efforts to better understand global economic and financial forces and their impact on larger strategic and security issues,” said Frederick Kempe, Atlantic Council President and CEO. “The Global Business and Economics Program, which he will lead, serves as the engine room for the Council’s effort to integrate the study of prosperity and security issues.”
In his most recent role as Moody’s Managing Director and Chief Credit Officer, Mr. Oosterveld was responsible for credit strategy and ratings quality for ratings in the Americas across all asset classes. From 2014 to 2016 – a period which saw significant falls in global commodity prices, notably in the oil market, he managed credit strategy and ratings quality for all governmental ratings. Moreover, he developed Moody’s Macroeconomic Board.
During the road to recovery after the 2008-09 financial collapse, Mr. Oosterveld held the position of Managing Director and Global Head of Sovereign Ratings, supervising an international team of sovereign risk analysts and coordinating the execution and rollout of rating changes on sovereign nations and multilateral development banks. Over the course of his time at Moody’s, Mr. Oosterveld served as member of the most senior decision-making body on credit matters, chair of its sub-committee on governmental ratings, and chair of the sub-committee on ratings in the Americas for all asset classes.
Mr. Oosterveld’s other roles as chief credit officer, group credit officer, and in analyst and consultancy positions during significant changes in the global economy have cemented his global reputation in the financial industry at the intersection of the public and private sectors.
“The world economy may have stabilized but it is not growing fast enough—and certainly not at its capacity— to address critical questions such as migration, income inequality, climate change adaptation and general poverty, especially in Africa” said C. Boyden Gray, former US Ambassador to the European Union and Atlantic Council vice chair of the Board of Directors. “Mr. Oosterveld’s experience in the upper echelons of the financial industry puts him in an excellent position to lead the Council’s efforts on international financial regulation and to coordinate private and public actors to foster transatlantic growth and prosperity.”
The Atlantic Council sees a resilience phase, emerging from the crisis mode that followed the 2007-08 financial collapse, as a window of opportunity for constructive discussion and reflection on how to tackle structural challenges and boost potential output, while ensuring benefits are broadly shared across a system rooted in sustainable democratic capitalism. Under Mr. Oosterveld’s leadership, the Global Business and Economics Program will address pressing issues in global trade, economic sanctions, and transatlantic economic stability, and will build upon the foundation of the Program’s precedent-setting economic sanctions and EuroGrowth Initiatives.
Mr. Oosterveld notes, “this is a critical time for the transatlantic economic partnership. Through its EuroGrowth initiative and other programs, the Atlantic Council is in an excellent position to lead the debate on key topics affecting global economic outcomes, such as free trade, regulation of the financial system, and the future of work.”
Mr. Oosterveld replaces Andrea Montanino who will be leaving the program after leading the Atlantic Council’s work on global trade, growth, and finance since 2014. “After three thought-provoking years, I leave the Global Business and Economics Program to go back to my home country of Italy,” said Mr. Montanino. “I could not think of a better person than Bart Oosterveld to lead the Program to its next stage. Bart’s ability to read the global economy, and his strong policy-oriented approach, will continue to shape the debate on how more prosperity can lead to a more secure world.”
About the Global Business and Economics Program
The Atlantic Council’s Global Business & Economics Program (GBE) promotes transatlantic leadership in the global economy and works to find multilateral solutions to today’s most vital and pressing global economic issues such as increasing protectionism, subdued economic growth, financial crime, and rising inequality. We aim to foster sustainable economic growth and economic resilience in Europe to ensure the continent remains a strong partner to the United States. In their shared quest to create a more secure and prosperous world, a strong transatlantic economic partnership is crucial to ensure the United States and Europe remain global leaders that shape the rules of the global system.