IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva Announces Intention to Appoint Isabel Schnabel as Financial Counsellor and Director of the Monetary and Capital Markets Department

IMF News, September 24, 2026

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Canonical URL: IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva Announces Intention to Appoint Isabel Schnabel as Financial Counsellor and Director of the Monetary and Capital Markets Department

Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva announced her intention to appoint Ms. Isabel Schnabel as the Fund’s next Financial Counsellor and Director of the Monetary and Capital Markets Department (MCM).
Effective date: January 4, 2027.
Announcement date: September 24, 2026.
Press Release No. 26/303.
The appointment is intended to support the Fund’s work with its 191 members.

Current role: Member of the Executive Board of the European Central Bank (ECB).
- Responsible for market operations, research, and statistics.
- Member of the ECB’s Governing Council, which sets monetary policy for the euro area.
ECB contributions since joining in 2020:
- Played a central role in the institution’s response to the pandemic, the 2022 energy price shock and cost of living crisis, and periods of financial market stress.
- Led development of the ECB’s new monetary policy implementation framework.
- Championed innovation, including the adoption of artificial intelligence and the modernization of supervisory and statistical reporting.
Previous roles:
- Member of the German Council of Economic Experts.
- Vice Chair of the Advisory Scientific Committee of the European Systemic Risk Board.
- Chair of the Advisory Board of BaFin, Germany’s Federal Financial Supervisory Authority.
- Roles provided deep expertise in macroprudential policy, banking supervision, capital markets, and financial regulation.
Academic credentials:
- Professor of Financial Economics at the University of Bonn.
- Earned a doctorate in economics, with highest distinction, from the University of Mannheim.
- Research areas: banking crises, systemic risk, financial regulation, international finance, and economic history, with publications in leading academic journals.

Managing Director Georgieva described Ms. Schnabel as:
- A highly distinguished economist and policymaker.
- A leading voice on monetary policy, financial markets, and financial stability.
- Demonstrating intellectual leadership in research and practical policymaking.
- Known for collaborative leadership, commitment to developing talent, and ability to build consensus around complex policy issues.
Anticipated value to the Fund:
- Deep expertise at the intersection of central banking, capital markets, and financial stability.
- Support for guiding members through a rapidly changing global financial landscape.
- Strengthening the Fund’s work to promote global monetary and financial stability through intellectual leadership, policy experience, and commitment to international cooperation.

Source: Press Release No. 26/303, September 24, 2026.