Press Release No. 99/22

Michel Camdessus, Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), has named Thomas C. Dawson II, a Merrill Lynch & Co. executive and former IMF Executive Director, to the post of Director of the IMF’s External Relations Department. Mr. Dawson, who will formally assume the post on August 2, succeeds Shailendra J. Anjaria, who has been named Secretary of the IMF (see Press Release No. 99/18).

Mr. Dawson, a national of the United States, will become Director Designate of the External Relations Department on July 1 as part of the transition within the IMF department responsible for media relations, private sector affairs, relations with civil society and publications activities. His appointment is for a three-year term.

Mr. Dawson is currently a Director in the Financial Institutions Group of Merrill Lynch in New York. In this position, he has been responsible for the firm’s relationships with the IMF, the World Bank and other multilateral institutions.

Prior to joining Merrill Lynch in 1993, Mr. Dawson served for four years as the Executive Director for the United States at the IMF. He was also responsible for representing the U.S. in numerous international financial negotiations, including dealings with the private sector. In 1981, he was named Deputy Assistant Secretary for Developing Nations at the U.S. Department of Treasury, and was named Assistant Secretary for Business & Consumer Affairs in 1984. He served between 1985 and 1987 in the White House Chief of Staff’s office.

Mr. Dawson, who was a U.S. Foreign Service Officer from 1971 until 1976, was employed by McKinsey and Co. as a consultant focusing on international business and investment strategy from 1978 to 1981.

He is a native of Washington, D.C., and holds a bachelor’s degree in economics and a master’s degree in business administration from Stanford University.