Christine Madeleine Odette Lagarde (French: ; née Lallouette, IPA: ; born 1 January 1956) is a French politician and lawyer serving as President of the European Central Bank since November 2019. Between July 2011 and November 2019, she served as chair and managing director (MD) of the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
Lagarde previously held various senior ministerial posts in the Government of France: she was Minister of the Economy, Finance and Industry (2007–2011), Minister of Agriculture and Fishing (2007) and Minister of Commerce (2005–2007). Lagarde was the first woman to become finance minister of a G8 economy (and the only woman as of 2020) and is the first woman to head each the ECB and IMF. A noted antitrust and labour lawyer, Lagarde was the first female chair of major international law firm Baker & McKenzie, between 1999 and 2004. On 16 November 2009, the Financial Times ranked her the best finance minister in the Eurozone.