José Viñals is an international banker, economist, former central banker and international official.
José retired in May 2025 as Group Chairman of Standard Chartered PLC and Chairman of Standard Chartered Bank, after having been appointed in 2016. During his tenure, the international banking group underwent a major turnaround, and is one of the global systemically important banks, with a deep presence in emerging markets and developing economies.
José is currently engaged in several international business and public policy initiatives. He is a Special Strategic Advisor to Standard Chartered PLC and a Member of its International Advisory Council; Co-Chair of the London Coalition, an initiative of the UK Government; Co-Chair of the United Nations Alliance of Global Investors for Sustainable Development (UN-GISD); Board Director of the Bretton Woods Committee; Vice-Chairman of the International Financial Forum (IFF); Member of the Business Advisory Group to the Director-General of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), and Board Director of the Social Progress Imperative.
Prior to his role as Group Chairman of Standard Chartered, José served as the Financial Counsellor and Director of the Monetary and Capital Markets Department at the International Monetary Fund between 2009 and 2016. He was responsible for the oversight and direction of the IMF’s financial sector work and the IMF’s chief spokesman on financial matters, including global financial stability. During his time at the IMF, José was a member of the Plenary and Steering Committee of the Financial Stability Board, which played a key role in the reform of international financial regulation after the Global Financial Crisis
Before his role at the IMF, José spent 25 years at the Central Bank of Spain, ultimately as the Deputy-Governor, with responsibility over areas including monetary, financial, supervisory, and operational matters. He began his career as member of the faculty of the Economics Department at Stanford University,
He has held many other board and advisory positions across the public and private sectors, including President of the International Monetary Conference, Board Director of the Institute of International Finance (IIF), Chair of the International Relations Committee at the European Central Bank (ECB), Member of the Economic and Financial Committee of the European Union, Chair of the Working Group on Institutional Investors at the Bank for International Settlements (BIS), Chair of Spain’s Deposit Guarantee Fund, and Chairman of the Executive Committee of Spain’s Centre for Monetary and Financial Studies (CEMFI).
José has a Ph.D. and M.A. in Economics from Harvard, an M.Sc. in Economics from the London School of Economics, and a Licenciatura in Economics from the University of Valencia.