Mark Brits has more than 40 years of experience in the financial sector covering a broad spectrum, of areas from banking and investment to economics and business management. He holds a BComm in Economics from the University of South Africa and a MSc degree in Banking and Finance from the University of London. He has spent the last 20 years at the Banking Association of South Africa (BASA), first as a General Manager: Financial Markets and currently Senior General Manager. Prior to joining BASA, he was vice president and head of money markets in the treasury of ING Barings, trading in financial markets and managing financial portfolios. He also held management positions at the New Republic Bank and worked for NBS Bank, the South African Reserve Bank and the Liberty Group South Africa.

As senior general manager at BASA, he heads the Prudential Regulatory Division. Working in policy advocacy, he regularly engages government and senior executives and represents Business Unity South Africa at Nedlac. He is also the executive director of BASA’s Centre of Excellence in Financial Services, a think tank that produces research into financial services, and has produced several research papers. His current focus is on 4IR and areas of digital identity and central bank digital currency complimenting traditional financial sector models, crypto assets, FinTech and BigTech, seeing them as a challenge to conventional wisdom and an opportunity to reshape society.

Mr Mark Brits serves as a member of the Research Development Committee and the Board Procurement Committee.