Press Release No. 14/372

Press Release: IMF European Department Director Reza Moghadam To Leave Fund

July 30, 2014

Mr. Reza Moghadam, Director of the European Department at the International Monetary Fund (IMF), has notified IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde of his intention to resign from the Fund to assume the position as Vice-Chairman in Global Capital Markets at Morgan Stanley starting in the fall of 2014.

Mr. Moghadam has had a long and distinguished career in the Fund. He was appointed Director of the European Department in 2011 and, from that vantage point, played a crucial role in shaping the most important decisions in the Fund’s work on Europe in recent years.

“Reza led our engagement with European policymakers, was responsible for our lending operations in the Euro Area, and spearheaded the Fund’s response from one crisis to the next—including the most recent challenge in Ukraine,” Ms. Lagarde said.

“I have highly valued the incredible energy and creativity that Reza has brought to every task—from his capacity for crisis management to his effectiveness as a communicator, his full-on management style and ability to attract and nurture talent,” she added.

“Reza will be sorely missed by his colleagues and friends at the Fund and we wish him all the very best in this new and exciting phase of his career.”

Prior to his time at the European Department, Mr. Moghadam was Director of Strategy, Policy and Review at the IMF, joining that department just as the global financial crisis erupted in 2008. There he helped craft the Fund’s response to the global financial crisis. He also led IMF staff engagement with the G-20 and played a key role in efforts to triple the Fund’s resources.

“Leaving the Fund has not been an easy decision and I go with a heavy heart,” said Mr. Moghadam. “It has been an honor and a pleasure to work with such very talented colleagues for the past 22 years—staff, Management, and the Executive Board. It has also been a privilege to work with committed policymakers across the globe. But I look forward to a new chapter in my life and a new career, and to being back home in the UK with my family,” he added.

Mr. Moghadam, who holds a bachelor’s degree in mathematics from Oxford University, a master’s degree in economics from the London School of Economics, and a PhD in economics from the University of Warwick, began his career at the IMF in 1992.

He has worked in a number of positions involving work on the Asian financial crisis, IMF support for the transition economies after the fall of the Berlin Wall, and the Exchange Rate Mechanism (ERM) crisis in Europe in the 1990s. He also served as Head of the Office of the Managing Director and Advisor to the First Deputy Managing Director at the IMF.

Mr. Moghadam has relinquished his responsibilities as Department Director and Mr. Poul Thomsen has been named Acting Director for an interim period. The search process to identify a successor to Mr. Moghadam will begin right away.