	Introduction

World Bank President Jim Yong Kim recently announced that he was stepping down in February 2019 to join Global Infrastructure Partners, a private equity fund that invests in projects in advanced and developing countries. According to an informal agreement among their member countries, the U.S. nominee is chosen as the World Bank president and a European candidate (typically French or German) is appointed as managing director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF). This custom has been subject to increasing criticism during the past two decades. The first line of criticism is directed at the current distribution of voting power, which critics contend does not account for the increasing integration of developing countries into the global economy. A second line of criticism is directed at the method of selecting World Bank and IMF leadership, which critics argue, elevates nationality above merit and undermines the legitimacy and effectiveness of the institutions. A citizen of the United States has always held the presidency of the World Bank. Leadership Selection at the World Bank

Selecting the leadership at the two major international financial institutions—the IMF and the World Bank—is guided by a tradition that the World Bank president is an American and that the IMF managing director is a European. This decision may be reached by a simple majority of the Executive Board. The Bank's Articles of Agreement, however, are silent on any requirements on how individuals are selected, on what criteria, or by what process they are vetted. There is no formal search process for candidates. The decision to select a new World Bank president is to be made by a majority vote of the World Bank's Executive Board. The President, in turn, has generally delegated authority to the Secretary of the Treasury. However, neither the approval of individual loans nor the selection of the managing director requires congressional approval. "It is time for a change." The nomination period for the next president ends on March 14, after which the Executive Board is to decide on a shortlist of three candidates. Following interviews, the Executive Board aims to select the next president before the spring meetings in April 2019. On February 6, President Trump nominated David Malpass, Treasury's Under Secretary for International Affairs, to be the next World Bank president.
On January 7, 2018, World Bank President Jim Yong Kim announced that he would resign by February 1, three years before the expiration of his second five-year term in 2022. Following his resignation, Dr. Kim is to join Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP), a private equity fund that invests in projects in advanced and developing countries. Prior to his nomination to the World Bank by President Barack Obama in 2012, Dr. Kim served as the president of Dartmouth College.
The nomination period for the next president ends on March 14, after which the Executive Board is to select three candidates for interviews. To date, the only candidate is David Malpass, the Treasury Department's Under Secretary for International Affairs, nominated by President Trump on February 6, 2019. Following the interviews, the Executive Board is to select the next president, something which it aims to do before the spring meetings in April 2019.
Since its founding after World War II, the presidency of the World Bank has been held by a citizen of the United States, the Bank's largest shareholder. According to an informal agreement among World Bank member countries, a U.S. candidate is chosen as the president of the World Bank and a European candidate (typically French or German) is appointed as the managing director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
The formal requirement for the selection of the World Bank president is that the executive directors appoint, by at least a 50% majority, an individual who is neither a member of the Board of Governors nor Board of Executive Directors. There are no requirements on how individuals are selected, on what criteria, or by what process they are vetted. Although the executive directors may select the IMF managing director by a simple majority vote, they historically aim to reach agreement by consensus. With these factors combined, the custom guaranteeing European leadership at the IMF and American leadership at the World Bank has remained in place.
This custom has been subject to increasing criticism during the past two decades. The first line of criticism is directed at the current distribution of voting power, which critics contend does not account for the increasing integration of developing countries into the global economy. A second line of criticism is directed at the method of selecting World Bank and IMF leadership, which critics argue elevates nationality above merit and undermines the legitimacy and effectiveness of the institutions. Calls for a more open, transparent, and merit-based leadership selection process have been made consistently in the past, and at times have been incorporated into communiqués of various summits, but have yet to change the leadership selection process at either institution.