Press Release No. 24/335

IMF Managing Director Appoints Yan Liu as General Counsel and Director of the Legal Department

September 20, 2024

Washington, DC: Kristalina Georgieva, Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), announced today her intention to appoint Ms. Yan Liu as General Counsel and Director of the Legal Department. Ms. Liu will succeed Ms. Rhoda Weeks-Brown and is expected to formally take up her appointment on October 7, 2024.

“I am pleased to announce the appointment of Yan Liu as General Counsel and Director of the Legal Department,” Ms. Georgieva said. “I have informed the Executive Board of my intention to proceed with this appointment.”

Ms. Liu joined the Fund in 1999 as Counsel and has risen through the ranks to Deputy General Counsel—the current role in which she leads key strategic initiatives to ensure that the Legal Department continues to fulfill its mandate and contribute to the Fund’s policy work and operations. Ms. Liu works to identify and manage actual and potential risks in key areas such as lending, central banking and payment systems, capital flows, non-performing loan resolution, public financial management, and capacity development.

Additionally, as a well-recognized expert in sovereign debt, Ms. Liu has played a key role in shaping the Fund’s policies in this area and supporting the Common Framework and the Global Sovereign Debt Roundtable. She has also provided advice on the Fund’s role in facilitating orderly restructurings in countries such as Argentina, Greece, Ukraine, and Zambia. Furthermore, she was instrumental in the design and implementation of the Fund’s digital money strategy.

“Yan brings to her new role over 25 years of legal expertise and deep understanding of the Fund policy and operations,” said Ms. Georgieva. “She is a thought leader and a trusted advisor who is also well known for her dedication to mentoring and supporting staff in their career journeys. The hallmark of Yan’s work is her collaborative and constructive approach in service to the institution.”

Ms. Liu, a Chinese national, received her Juris Doctor from the University of Illinois, and a master’s degree from the University of Chicago. She is widely published on various aspects of the law, and policy perspectives on such areas as private debt, sovereign debt restructuring, and good governance. Prior to joining the Fund, she practiced corporate and securities law in the United States.