Luc Laeven is Director-General of the Directorate General Research of the European Central Bank. Previously, he was Lead Economist in the Research Department of the International Monetary Fund. Prior to this, he was a Senior Financial Economist in the Financial Sector Department of the World Bank and worked at ABN Amro Bank. His research focuses on international banking and corporate finance issues and has been published in top academic journals, including the American Economic Review, Journal of Finance, the Journal of Financial Economics, and the Review of Financial Studies. He has also co-edited a book on Systemic Financial Crises: Containment and Resolution published by Cambridge University Press and a Reader on International Corporate Finance. He is a Research Affiliate in the Financial Economics Programme of the Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR) in London and a Research Associate at the European Corporate Governance Institute (ECGI). He has studied at Tilburg University, the University of Amsterdam, and the London School of Economics.