WASHINGTON, D.C., Aug. 22 -- The International Finance Corporation announced today the appointment of Ms. Carol Lee to the position of Vice President and General Counsel and the appointment of Ms. Birgitta Kantola to the position of Vice President, Finance and Planning. Both executives will join IFC's Management Group which formulates the Corporation's strategic and operational plans. Ms. Lee, a U.S. national, will lead IFC's legal department comprising 50 lawyers with wide sectoral and regional expertise. She will also advise the Board of Directors, the President and Executive Vice President on a wide range of legal and policy matters. Ms. Lee is presently General Counsel of the Export-Import Bank of the United States, based in Washington, D.C. She graduated from Yale University and Wadham College, Oxford. She received her Juris Doctor from Yale in 1981. She was a law clerk to Judge J. Skelly Wright of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit and then to Justice John Paul Stevens of the
Supreme Court of the United States. She joined Wilmer, Cutler & Pickering in 1983 and became Partner in 1989. Ms. Lee specialized in international corporate transactions and joint ventures, aviation law and appellate and Supreme Court litigation. Ms. Kantola, a Finnish national, will be IFC's chief financial officer. Ms. Kantola will also oversee the utilization of the subscribed capital of IFC's 165 shareholder governments as well as the Corporation's US$2 billion annual borrowing program. IFC treasury and loan syndications operations will report to her as well as budgeting, accounting, portfolio analysis and information technology. Ms. Kantola is presently Executive Vice President of Finance for the Nordic Investment Bank in Helsinki. She graduated from Vasa Commercial College and received her Master of Law from the University of Helsinki. During her career, Ms. Kantola has held positions at the Bank of Helsinki, the International Monetary Fund and the International Finance Corporation. During her eight ye
ars at the Nordic Investment Bank she held a variety of finance positions working her way to the top financial job which she has held since 1991. (more) Press Release No. 96/16, page 2 of 2 "I am delighted that IFC will benefit from the experience and talent of these distinguished executives, said Jannik Lindbaek, Executive Vice President of IFC. "Their professional background as well as impressive record of achievement will contribute greatly to the private sector development work of the Corporation." Ms. Lee will join IFC in October. Ms. Kantola is expected to join IFC in November. IFC is a member of the World Bank Group and is the largest multilateral source of equity and loan financing for private sector projects in developing countries.
