Press Release No. 23/363

IMF Managing Director Appoints Romy Bowers as Director of the Office of Risk Management

October 27, 2023

Washington, DC: Kristalina Georgieva, Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), announced today her intention to appoint Ms. Romy Bowers as Director of the Office of Risk Management (ORM). Ms. Bowers will succeed Brenda Boultwood and is expected to take up her appointment on January 8, 2024.

“I am delighted to announce the appointment of Romy Bowers as Director of the Office of Risk Management,” Ms. Georgieva said. “I have informed the Executive Board of my intention to proceed with this appointment.”

Ms. Bowers, a Canadian national, brings to the Fund more than 20 years of experience in both the public and private sectors. For the past three years, she has been President and Chief Executive Officer of Canada’s Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC)—a public agency managing over US$250 billion in assets—where her talent and skills in risk management were essential in safeguarding the agency’s balance sheet and in delivering Canada’s National Housing Strategy. Ms. Bowers has held a number of other key positions at CMHC over a span of nine years, beginning in 2015 as the agency’s Chief Risk Officer tasked with leading transformational change. She helped modernize CMHC’s risk management function, improve its risk management practices, and strengthen its risk culture.

Prior to the CMHC, Ms. Bower had an impressive private sector career. She served as Managing Director and Head of US Operational Risk Management at the Bank of Montreal (BMO) Financial Group, the eight largest financial institution in North America. She held other senior positions in finance and risk management during her 15 years at BMO. Among her many managerial successes, she was instrumental in developing and implementing strategic initiatives that enhanced BMO’s enterprise risk management, stress testing, organizational resilience, and operational risk management capabilities.

“Romy joins the Fund during this period of heightened uncertainty, one that demands robust risk management practices as we work to support our membership,” added Ms. Georgieva. “With a proven track record of developing innovative solutions to complex problems, and deep expertise in financial services risk management, I am confident that Romy is the right person to lead ORM and to collaborate with departments and the Board to further strengthen the Fund’s risk practices and culture.”

Ms. Bower has an MBA in Finance from the University of Toronto, and a Master’s in Arts from McGill University in Canada. She has completed the Advanced Management Program at the Harvard Business School in Boston, Massachusetts.