The Bank of Canada has hired investment industry veteran Lynn Patterson as a special advisor to serve as a liaison between the bank and Bay Street.

On Friday, the central bank announced the appointment of Patterson as the new senior representative for financial markets in the bank’s Toronto office. She will be responsible for maintaining relationships between the bank and the financial community, while also contributing to the bank’s analysis of financial markets, institutions, products and regulations.

Patterson will also become a member of the bank’s monetary policy review and financial system review committees. Her two-year term begins on June 17.

She will succeed Evan Siddall in this role.

Most recently, Patterson was president and country head for Bank of America Merrill Lynch. She also led Canadian debt and equity sales and trading activities at Merrill Lynch, and, before that, held positions with Goldman Sachs Canada, Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan Board, JPMorgan Canada and CIBC Wood Gundy.

Patterson has an honours degree in business administration from the University of Western Ontario and is a chartered financial analyst.

“Lynn Patterson is a tremendous addition to the bank’s leadership team,” said Stephen Poloz, BoC governor, in a release. “Lynn’s expertise will help us better understand market developments and will support our work to make the Canadian and global financial systems safer and more resilient.”