Isabel Schnabel is reported to be leaving the European Central Bank’s Executive Board in January 2027 to become the IMF’s Financial Counsellor and Director of its Monetary and Capital Markets Department, nearly a year before her ECB term was due to expire. The move would fill the vacancy created by Tobias Adrian’s departure from the IMF role at the end of August 2026, although neither the ECB nor the IMF has officially confirmed it. Schnabel’s exit would add to turnover at the ECB, with Chief Economist Philip Lane due to depart in May 2027 and President Christine Lagarde’s term ending by October 2027. Schnabel, a prominent inflation hawk who joined the ECB board in January 2020, has also argued that central banks must use on-chain systems and distributed ledger technology, provide liquidity and conduct monetary policy as blockchain-based finance expands. At the IMF, she would oversee global financial-system surveillance, the Global Financial Stability Report and advice on banking regulation and capital flows.