Ardoff Distran

Ardoff Distran was a Human male banker and financier from who became the first Governor of the Bank of the Empire.

Biography
Hailing from the family of an investment banker of the who permanently resided on  for his job, Distran entered the family business early on and went into finance, using his father's connections to help along the way. But during the he was one of the few Banking Clan employees of significance to side with the  over the. The main reason for it was his connections to former, whom he met around the time of the 's. The two men—both ambitious, recognizing the corruption of current Republic politics, and having goals beyond their current standing—got along very well. Distran became one of Senator and later Palpatine's main allies in the galactic financial sector, although their relationship was kept low-key.

It was because of this that Distran secured a bureaucratic post in the. He viewed the current system as undesirable, though, because of its decentralized and more regulated nature. The banker was glad to find out that the Supreme Chancellor agreed. For the time being Distran continued to work within the Treasury to assist the Republic's war economy. By the time of the in 19 BBY, he was the deputy director of the Treasury and was chosen by the new  to head a new institution that would replace it. Distran was appointed to be the first Governor of the Bank of the Empire.

Under his leadership and with the Emperor's approval, the new Imperial Bank began implementing policies that centralized the. The Bank took steps to discourage the use of local currencies and promote the, increasing its value, and also setting up a system that allowed the Bank to implement inflation as much as it wished when the government needed more funds. Distran and the Imperial Bank were criticized heavily in the for destabilizing local currencies and creating what they viewed as a tyrannical financial system.

Nonetheless these actions continued and stabilized the Imperial economy in the aftermath of the. During this time he also groomed his successor, his chief secretary Marik Seldon, to succeed him. He held the post of Governor until his death in 5 BBY in strange circumstances which remained unclear, though Seldon believed that it had something to do with Distran showing too much independence of Emperor Palpatine and becoming too ambitious.