ECB's Schnabel may leave early for IMF job, Handelsblatt reports

BERLIN, Sept 3 (Reuters) - European Central Bank board member Isabel Schnabel is in talks with the International Monetary Fund to take a senior role and may leave the bank before her term in Frankfurt ends, German newspaper Handelsblatt said on Thursday, citing government sources.

Schnabel, the head of the ECB's market operations, is in talks to become head of the IMF's Monetary and Capital Markets Department, a role that has been vacant since the start of the month since Tobias Adrian left. 

An ECB spokesperson declined to comment, and the IMF also declined to comment.

The ECB term of Schnabel, an outspoken policy hawk, runs until the end of 2027. If she departs early it would bring forward the start of a reshuffle of the central bank's board in which some of its top positions are to be turned over in quick succession.

Chief economist Philip Lane is set to leave next May, while the term of President Christine Lagarde — who has never completely denied persistent rumours about her plans to leave early — will end next October.

Schnabel's departure would also essentially end her bid to become the ECB's next president, an idea that appears not to have gained real traction in Berlin. 

Although all euro zone countries can field candidates for the vacant roles, the bloc's biggest countries, including Germany and France, enjoy a de facto permanent seat on the ECB board and will likely claim seats, even if not the exact roles, vacated by Schnabel and Lagarde.

Spain has also expressed a claim for a seat on the board, suggesting that the bloc's biggest economies may divide the three roles among themselves.

These plans could be upset if leaders decide to pick former Dutch central bank chief Klaas Knot to replace Lagarde. However, the Dutch already have a seat on the board and it is customary for one board member to resign if a compatriot is picked as president.

While ECB seats are normally decided one by one, the relatively quick succession raises the chance that EU governments will do a package, subject to the usual horse-trading of top EU positions. 

(Writing by Miranda Murray and Balazs Koranyi; Editing by Ludwig Burger and Hugh Lawson)