A key leadership transition is set to take place in 2026 for the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank (ECCB), as the top post of its Monetary Council prepares to change hands in a formal, public ceremony. On July 9, 2026, starting at 5:00 p.m. local time at the Trafalgar Ballroom of the InterContinental Dominica Cabrits Resort located in the Commonwealth of Dominica, current chair Gaston Browne, the council’s representative for Antigua and Barbuda, will officially transfer the gavel to incoming chair Dr. Irving McIntyre, Dominica’s representative to the decision-making body.
As the highest governing and decision-making authority of the ECCB, the Monetary Council is composed of the finance ministers from all eight of the ECCB’s member jurisdictions across the Eastern Caribbean. Following long-standing institutional rules, the council’s chairmanship rotates on an annual basis, with the role passing to the next representative in alphabetical order of the member territories: Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, the Commonwealth of Dominica, Grenada, Montserrat, Saint Christopher (St Kitts) and Nevis, Saint Lucia, and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. This rotational system ensures equal representation and shared governance across the Eastern Caribbean currency union.
Beyond the formal leadership handover, the 2026 ceremony will carry special historical significance: it will host the public unveiling of a fully redesigned series of Eastern Caribbean (EC) banknotes and coins, created to mark the 50th anniversary of the EC dollar’s fixed exchange rate peg to the United States dollar.
The process to update the regional currency began years before the launch. During the Monetary Council’s 105th meeting held on July 21, 2023, members approved a landmark change: the removal of the late Queen Elizabeth II’s portrait from EC currency, a shift that aligns with the region’s evolving sovereign identity. The council also directed the ECCB to lead a period of public consultation to gather input from residents across member territories on what imagery should replace the former portrait. These public engagement sessions ran from July through December 2023, and the results were clear: an overwhelming majority of respondents supported featuring local national heroes and foundational nation builders on the newly redesigned currency.
For those unable to attend the ceremony in person, the entire event will be broadcast for free via live stream on two platforms: the official ECCB Connects platform and the ECCB’s public YouTube channel, allowing residents, financial stakeholders and interested observers across the region and globally to follow the proceedings.