(Bloomberg) -- When the Swiss National Bank poached Antoine Martin from the Federal Reserve, it didn’t only get an experienced economist, but a potentially valuable asset for discussions on financial reform after the Credit Suisse crisis that engulfed the country this year.

Martin, who joins from the New York Fed in January, has researched bank runs and was involved in designing US measures to stabilize the financial system after the 2008 financial crisis, according to instructors and peers who worked with him.

The move to the SNB is a sort of homecoming for the Swiss-born economist, who completed his studies at the University of Minnesota in 2001 and has then stayed in the US. He was first at the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City and later New York, gaining experience in areas from money markets to monetary policy frameworks and cryptocurrencies.

“His main concern, right from the time as a graduate student, was to understand problems of the banking sector, especially bank panics,” said V.V. Chari, professor for economics at Minnesota and Martin’s dissertation adviser.

Martin, who is from the French speaking part of Switzerland, was approached for the SNB role, and has spent the past few months studying to brush up on his German skills in preparation.

His next test will be applying his Fed expertise for the first time as a full-time policy maker, rather than in an advisory role. He’ll also be in an environment where officials are still dealing with fallout over the handling of Credit Suisse. Amid the criticism, lawmakers and regulators are trying to figure out what needs to change to improve bank resilience and protect Switzerland’s future reputation as a financial center.

As that clean-up operation continues, other challenges are lining up. Economic growth is set to remain sluggish, while the Swiss franc has strengthened to a record against the euro, weighing on exports. The SNB is expected to cut interest rates in 2024, probably in the second half of the year.

Markets Man 

Born in 1969, Martin first studied in Lausanne, Switzerland, before moving to Minnesota for a PhD in economics. At the Fed, he developed a reputation as an expert in money markets, repurchase agreements and liquidity in financial markets, helping policy makers think through how financial institutions would respond to central bank actions and facilities.

“Antoine is pragmatic. We could sit and talk about problems or frictions, and he could think of a framework that would apply,” said Lorie Logan, who worked with Martin in New York and is now Dallas Fed President. “He had a great interest in the operational side of our work.”

During the global financial crisis, as the Fed grappled with the challenges of implementing monetary policy with a larger balance sheet, Martin was among those making presentations to policy makers about the framework they ultimately adopted, the “floor system” of rates that’s still in place. 

SNB Role

At the SNB, Martin replaces Andrea Maechler and will run Department III, which oversees money markets and the foreign exchange reserves that have ballooned the SNB’s balance sheet. Martin, who declined to be interviewed for this story, will also be in charge of the central bank’s digital currency experiments.

He’ll be part of a three-person board — alongside Martin Schlegel and President Thomas Jordan — in a more public-facing role than he’s had before. But that won’t be new to him; at the Fed he was often tasked with speaking to the media and frequently wrote blog posts that broke down issues for a more general audience.

“He’s one of those very smart people who can understand complex issues and explain them clearly to people who don’t have the same background,” said Susan McLaughlin, who spent 30 years at the New York Fed.

What might also help him ease into the new role is his attitude.

Chari describes him as a “very social person and a lot of fun,” but also “very Swiss: very reserved, very gentlemanly.”

“He had the polish, the sense of nuance and the balance of judgment you need as a central banker,” he said. “You can’t do that kind of job as a hot-headed academic.”

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