The International Monetary Fund has promoted Yan Liu to general counsel, replacing Rhoda Weeks-Brown, who announced her imminent departure last month.

Liu is currently deputy GC and will step up to her new role on 7 October, becoming only the second female GC in the IMF’s 80-year history. In her expanded remit she will oversee the legal department and continue to lead key strategic initiatives related to the IMF’s policy work and operations. As deputy GC she was already responsible for identifying and managing risks in areas including lending, central banks and payment systems, capital flows and problem loan resolution. She is also a sovereign debt expert.

Kristalina Georgieva, managing director of the IMF, said: “Yan brings to her new role over 25 years of legal expertise and deep understanding of the fund policy and operations. 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.”

Liu has been with the IMF since 1999, when she joined as counsel. She became senior counsel in 2006, assistant GC in 2013 and then deputy GC in 2019. Prior to joining the IMF, Liu spent two years as an associate at Milbank and two years at Fried Frank, where she started her legal career.

In a LinkedIn post, Liu said: “I am humbled and honoured to take up the role of general counsel and director of the International Monetary Fund’s legal department. As we mark 80 years since the Bretton Woods Conference, we find ourselves facing new challenges and living in a rapidly changing world. I look forward to leading the exceptional legal department and working together with colleagues in and outside the IMF, in support of our member countries and their people.”

Meantime, Weeks-Brown, who is a Liberian national, announced last month that she will retire at the end of September after an almost 28-year career at the IMF. She became the fund’s first woman GC in 2018 as well as its first GC to hail from a developing country.

Speaking last month, Georgieva said: “Rhoda has been an exemplary corporate citizen, serving as a prolific member of many important fund committees, as a tireless coach and mentor to many staff, and as a relentless champion for diversity and inclusion both inside and outside the fund.”

In other in-house banking moves, in June US personal finance and fintech company SoFi Technologies hired Stephen Simcock as GC from JP Morgan, where he was GC of its retail banking business. In April, US fintech Broadridge hired New York Stock Exchange GC Hope Jarkowski as CLO. And in March, the Bank for International Settlements elevated deputy GC Dessilava Guetcheva-Cheytanova to GC.