Michael Vaughan has been named the first ever full-time executive director of the World Federation of Diamond Bourses. He currently serves as WFDB secretary general. He will continue to serve in that position while fulfilling his new duties.

The decision to appoint a professional executive director was taken by the WFDB leadership at its Presidents Meeting in Amsterdam in June, the organization said in a statement.

“It was clear that he is uniquely qualified for this most challenging job,” said Ernest Blom, WFDB president, when announcing the appointment Wednesday. “Our intention is raise (the WFDB) profile in the industry, with programs like the WFDB Mark, and that requires an experienced, knowledgeable, and proficient professional staff. Michael is just the right person to get the job done.”

Born in London, Vaughan moved to Belgium in 1981.There he became a member of the Antwerpsche Diamantkring cvba, the world’s leading rough diamond bourse. His introduction to the diamond industry came in 1995, when he was elected to the bourse’s board of directors. Since 2003, he has served as an executive member of the Antwerpsche Diamantkring’s board.

Vaughan also served for more than ten years on the Permanent Commission for Liquidation of Debts, a committee of the Belgian Federation of Diamond Bourses, and from 1997 to 2005 was a member of the Marketing and Public Relations Committee of the HRD (now known as the Antwerp World Diamond Centre). He also was a member of the ad-hoc task force created by the HRD to conduct negotiations with the European Community and Belgian Government. The committee’s task was to deliver recommendations on the ‘European Regulation on the Control of Conflict Diamonds,’ which was introduced to prevent the trade in conflict diamonds within the European Community. Vaughan has been honored by the King of Belgium and been made Knight in the Order of the Crown for his services to the Antwerpsche Diamantkring and the Belgian Diamond Industry.

“I am most honored to have been offered the position of Executive Director, and thrilled at the challenge which awaits me,” Vaughan said. “The WFDB stands on the threshold of a new era, as it strives to project its presence in the industry in order to promote the interests of the members of its affiliated bourses. The marketplace requires a diamond trade that is both ethical and accountable for its actions, and the WFDB has the reputation and the legal infrastructure to guarantee just that. From an organizational and operational standpoint this requires us to expand our infrastructure most significantly, and for me that will be the first task of business.”

JCK