The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has announced the appointment of Isabel Schnabel as its new Financial Counsellor and Director of the Monetary and Capital Markets Department (MCM), effective January 4, 2027. 

Kristalina Georgieva, Managing Director of the IMF, highlighted Schnabel’s extensive experience and expertise in her announcement, describing her as a “highly distinguished economist and policymaker.” 

Schnabel, who currently serves on the Executive Board of the European Central Bank (ECB), has played a pivotal role in the institution since her appointment in 2020. Her responsibilities encompass market operations, research, and statistics, and she is a key member of the ECB’s Governing Council, where she contributes significantly to setting monetary policy for the euro area. Her tenure has included steering the ECB’s response to major economic challenges, such as the COVID-19 pandemic and the recent energy price shocks. 

Her previous positions have further established her as a leading authority in the fields of macroprudential policy and financial regulation. Schnabel was a member of the German Council of Economic Experts and held senior roles at both the Advisory Scientific Committee of the European Systemic Risk Board and BaFin, Germany’s Federal Financial Supervisory Authority. An accomplished academic, Schnabel is a Professor of Financial Economics at the University of Bonn and earned her PhD from the University of Mannheim. 

Her research, which focuses on banking crises and systemic risk, has been published in leading academic journals, underscoring her academic credentials. 

Georgieva praised Schnabel’s collaborative leadership approach and her commitment to fostering talent and building consensus around complex policy issues, concluding that her appointment will enhance the Fund’s efforts to navigate the evolving landscape of global finance.

Read the full press release: imf.org