Romy Bowers

Information

Title

Chief risk officer

Biography

Ms. Romy Bowers was appointed Director, Office of Risk Management, International Monetary Fund in January 2024. As the Chief Risk Officer of the Fund, she leads the IMF’s centralized risk management function, constituting the second line of defense in the Fund’s risk management, governance, and control architecture. Ms. Bowers, a Canadian national, brings to the Fund more than 20 years of experience in both the public and private sectors. Prior to accepting her IMF role, she was the President and Chief Executive Officer of Canada’s Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC)—a public agency managing over US$250 billion in assets. Ms. Bowers held a number of key positions at CMHC over a span of nine years, beginning in 2015 as the agency’s Chief Risk Officer tasked with leading transformational change of the risk management function and risk culture. Prior to the CMHC, Ms. Bowers held senior positions in the private sector. She served as Managing Director and Head of US Operational Risk Management at the Bank of Montreal (BMO) Financial Group. She held other senior positions in finance and risk management during her 12 years at BMO. Among her many managerial successes, she was instrumental in developing and implementing strategic initiatives that enhanced BMO’s enterprise risk management, stress testing, organizational resilience, and operational risk management capabilities. Ms. Bowers has an MBA in Finance from the University of Toronto, and a Master’s in Arts from McGill University in Canada. She has completed the Advanced Management Program at the Harvard Business School.