Thérèse L. Couture is Director of the Treasury Operations Department (TRO) for the World Bank. Ms. Couture is responsible for the full range of support functions for Treasury’s funding activities related to a debt portfolio of US$200 billion and asset management activities for asset portfolios totaling nearly US$200 billion, including clearing and settlement of transactions, and portfolio valuation. Her team also supports collateral management for Treasury’s extensive activities in the derivatives markets. Her team is responsible for establishing and maintaining all commercial banking relationships and effecting all cash flows Bank-wide, amounting to over US$7 trillion equivalent annually. As well, her team performs financial and performance reporting for the Bank’s pension and benefits plans.
A key priority is collaborating with partners to explore and develop leading edge innovations to scale up the efficiency and transparency of financial processes—including the use of financial technologies in financial and capital market areas, such as the launch of the Bond-i, the world’s first blockchain bond.
Ms. Couture joined the World Bank in March 2018 after almost 10 years at the Bank of Canada in Ottawa, Canada, with her latest position as Senior Director for Banking Operations, Funds Management and Banking Department. She held management positions in different organizations prior to the Bank of Canada.
Ms. Couture holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Commerce from the University of Ottawa. She is a Chartered Professional Accountant and a Certified Internal Auditor.
Sessions
10/02/2019
03.00 - 04.00
AD Fund Hall
This session will explore the opportunities and limitations of blockchain through the lens of a diversity of applications, as well as their implications for fiscal and monetary policy, financial sector regulation, and far-reaching positive public interest. The session will close with concrete and pragmatic considerations for how policy makers, supervisors, and regulators should approach these developments to realize their positive transformative potential and, at the same time, manage evolving risks.