BY BANYO TEMITAYO
MANAGING Director of the International Monetary Fund, Kristalina Georgieva, on Monday, announced her intention to appoint Bernard Lauwers as Director of the Finance Department.
Lauwers will succeed Andrew Tweedie, whose departure was announced in February, according to a statement by the Fund.
He is expected to begin his work in this capacity on April 21, 2021.
Lauwers, a Belgian national, is a senior finance executive with over 30 years of experience across international financial institutions and in the private sector, spanning over multiple sectorial activities and countries. He has a strong track record in leading and motivating large multicultural and multidisciplinary teams to perform at a consistently high level and against well-defined objectives.
“I am delighted to welcome Bernard to the IMF, where his breadth of experience, his strong managerial track record, and demonstrated ability to be a forward-leaning thinker and executive will be instrumental in helping us to continue responding to the evolving needs of the membership, in line with our mandate, while ensuring effective management and control of our financial resources,” Georgieva said.
Lauwers comes to the Fund from the World Bank Group (WBG), where he was the Group-wide Vice President and Controller from 2014 to 2019, and then Vice President on Special Assignment, leading major institution-wide initiatives such as the LIBOR transition and integrated reporting.
For most of 2019, he was Acting Managing Director and Chief Financial Officer, responsible for overseeing financial reporting, risk management, and the sustainable mobilization of financial resources. He also led the client service function for WBG corporate expenses and WBG trust funds.
Prior to holding those positions, Mr. Lauwers was Chief Administrative Officer of the WBG’s International Finance Corporation (IFC), overseeing information technology, corporate strategy, facilities management and security, and the leadership of cross-organizational efficiency/productivity improvement efforts.
He joined IFC in 2009 as Controller and Director of the Finance and Accounting Department, in charge of financial sustainability, and the IFC back-office function, IFC’s liquid assets and borrowings portfolios, as well as internal controls over financial reporting, procurement and data governance.
“In all his positions at the World Bank Group, Mr. Lauwers championed change, innovation, and new products to support his internal and external clients more effectively,” Georgieva said. “He earned a strong reputation for diligence and the ability to delegate without losing sight of work priorities, deliverables and deadlines.”
Before joining IFC, Mr. Lauwers built nearly 20 years of international finance experience across various industries, including management positions in several large multinational companies such as the biopharmaceutical UCB Group (where he was in charge of global controlling, mergers and acquisitions, strategic planning, shared services, treasury), Cable and Wireless, Owens-Corning and A.C. Nielsen.
Lauwers holds a Master’s and a Bachelor’s degree in Engineering & Business from Solvay Business School in Belgium and the designation of Certified Financial Analyst by the European Federation of Financial Analysts Societies.
