World Bank President Kim Unexpectedly Resigns

[Swordsmyth]

Jim Yong Kim, the president of the World Bank, abruptly announced that he will be leaving his post on February 1, more than three years ahead of the end of his term as the development lender grapples with turbulence in emerging markets and U.S. doubts about the usefulness of multilateral institutions.

“It has been a great honor to serve as President of this remarkable institution, full of passionate individuals dedicated to the mission of ending extreme poverty in our lifetime,” Kim said in a statement on Monday.
“The work of the World Bank Group is more important now than ever as the aspirations of the poor rise all over the world, and problems like climate change, pandemics, famine and refugees continue to grow in both their scale and complexity,” he added.

Kim has been at the helm of the World Bank since 2012, and was re-elected for a second five-year term that began in 2017.

Kristalina Georgieva, the lender’s second in command, will take over as interim president on Feb. 1, the Washington-based bank said Monday in a statement. In an email to employees of the bank, Kim said he’ll join a private firm focused on infrastructure investments in developing countries.

“The opportunity to join the private sector was unexpected, but I’ve concluded that this is the path through which I will be able to make the largest impact on major global issues like climate change and the infrastructure deficit in emerging markets,” Kim said.

Kim began his second five-year term at the bank on July 1, 2017, after convincing the lender’s board of directors to reappoint him.
In the past year, the Trump administration has put pressure on the World Bank to justify its lending practices, including loans to China. But in April, the lender won support from its member countries for a $13 billion capital increase, after the U.S. dropped its objections, Bloomberg notes.
As a reminder, the U.S. is the largest shareholder in the development lender, which was conceived during the Second World War to finance the reconstruction of Europe but has since focused on alleviating extreme poverty around the world.


https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2019-...ctedly-resigns

[Swordsmyth]

Kim’s unexpected departure three years before his term was set to expire is likely to set off a fierce battle between the Trump administration and other countries who have complained about the influence the United States exerts over the World Bank.

Kim’s departure will give President Donald Trump the opportunity to nominate his own choice to fill the World Bank post.

Kim, the former head of Dartmouth College, was first tapped by former President Barack Obama to lead the World Bank in 2012.

The World Bank said Kim will be succeeded Feb. 1 on an interim basis by Kristalina Georgieva, its chief executive officer and the bank’s executive board would immediately start the process for selecting a permanent successor to Kim.
“It has been a great honor to serve as president of this remarkable institution, full of passionate individuals dedicated to the mission of ending extreme poverty in our lifetime,” Kim said.
Kim’s permanent successor will be decided by the World Bank’s board of directors. The United States is the largest shareholder in the bank, which is headquartered in Washington.
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin looks forward to working with other countries on the bank’s 24-member executive board to select Kim’s successor, a Mnuchin spokesperson said.

More at: https://www.washingtonpost.com/busin...=.f9d8e707b9eb

[DamianTV]

Ten bucks says he knows something bad is about to unfold and he is skirting responsibility.

[timosman]

https://www.theguardian.com/business...d-trump-report

12 Jan 2019


^{Ivanka Trump at the White House. Donald Trump has the power to nominate candidates to the World Bank position. Photograph: Nicholas Kamm/AFP/Getty Images}

The Financial Times reported on Friday that the name of Ivanka Trump is “floating around Washington” regarding the need for a new president of the World Bank.

The role will soon be open due to the surprise departure of the current president, Jim Yong Kim. But on politics Twitter, at least, the idea that his replacement might be the first daughter met with widespread derision.

“Of all the people in US who could be World Bank President,” tweeted California Congressman Ted Lieu, sarcastically, “the most qualified is Ivanka Trump, who lost her fashion line & happens to be the daughter of @POTUS. I see.”

The billionaire Democratic donor Tom Steyer, who is funding a campaign to impeach Donald Trump and until recently flirted with a White House run, chimed in: “This is among the most ridiculous proposals I have ever heard. Nepotism is just another form of corruption, so I am not surprised, but the level of absurdity is breathtaking.”

The FT did not reveal its source, but stories of impending promotion for Ivanka, a senior adviser to her father, are not without precedent.

Donald Trump has the power to nominate candidates to the World Bank position and has routinely considered his daughter and her husband, Jared Kushner, as possible and actual candidates for all sorts of jobs for which they would not traditionally be thought qualified.

Trump was reported to have considered Ivanka for US ambassador to the United Nations. In March last year, she effectively acted, if briefly, as de facto interim secretary of state, after Rex Tillerson was fired. She also sat in for her father at a G20 summit in Hamburg in July 2017, to widespread consternation.

In his bombshell White House-insider bestseller Fire and Fury, the author Michael Wolff wrote that Ivanka aspires to a higher achievement than an appointment from her father: to be the first female US president.

The US president does not have the final say on the World Bank appointment, which must be voted on by the bank’s board of directors. But presidential nominations have traditionally led to appointments, as in the case of Kim, who was nominated by Barack Obama in 2012.

The bank, founded in 1944, works to promote economic development and poverty reduction by “providing technical and financial support to help countries reform certain sectors or implement specific projects” in fields like healthcare, education and infrastructure.

Its has historically been led by figures with multiple decades of governmental, macroeconomic or academic experience. All 12 presidents to date have been men.

[Swordsmyth]

https://www.theguardian.com/business...d-trump-report

I think Trump floats her name for these positions just to watch the reaction.

[Swordsmyth]

The Trump administration has notified World Bank shareholders that President Donald Trump intends to pick senior Treasury Department official David Malpass as the U.S. nominee to lead the development lender, people familiar with the decision said on Monday.The nomination of Malpass would put a Trump loyalist and a skeptic of multilateral institutions in line to lead the World Bank, which committed nearly $64 billion to developing countries in the year ended June 30, 2018.
Politico, which first reported the decision, said it would be announced on Wednesday, citing unidentified administration officials.
Spokespersons for the White House and the U.S. Treasury declined comment.
A European diplomatic source said the Trump administration had notified several capitals of the Malpass nomination, adding that European shareholders of the bank were not likely to block it.

More at: https://www.yahoo.com/news/trump-pla...-business.html

[Zippyjuan]

President Trump has nominated Treasury Department official David Malpass, a vocal critic of the World Bank, to head the international financial institution.

Malpass, 62, is a conservative with longstanding ties to Trump. He once worked as chief economist at investment bank Bear Stearns, which collapsed in 2008 in the midst of the financial crisis. He also served in the Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush administrations. At Treasury, Malpass is currently involved in tense trade negotiations with China.

If approved by the countries that control the World Bank's governing board, which is considered likely, Malpass would replace Jim Yong Kim, who announced his resignation in January and stepped down before his term ended. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and the president's daughter, Ivanka Trump, led the search for Kim's successor and recommended Malpass.

The Washington-based World Bank, which is controlled by the world's richest countries, lends money to emerging economies for infrastructure and development. Malpass has frequently complained about corruption and mismanagement at the agency.

Though President Trump often has expressed skepticism and even disdain for international institutions, the administration surprised many by supporting a funding increase for the World Bank last year. A senior administration official said Malpass worked with Mnuchin to back the funding increase, tying it to "significant reforms that will deliver much needed help to developing countries."

https://www.npr.org/2019/02/06/69197...ead-world-bank