Arif Ismail is currently a Deputy Division Chief in the Payments and Infrastructure Division of the IMF’s Monetary and Capital Markets Department. He is responsible for co-leading the Division on payments, financial market infrastructures, and digital money matters. He is passionate about understanding how digitalization may impact broader society, improve social welfare while minimizing risks to both domestic and the international monetary system. Arif led a multi-departmental team on the Board Paper on the Elements of Effective Crypto Policies.

Arif holds a BSc in mathematics and physics, an MBA from the Gordon Institute of Business Science, and a DBA in strategic leadership and transformation. His area of interest spans the change domain, with a focus on complex adaptive systems, psycho-social cognition, and leadership theory.