IMF taps ex-Bundesbank chief Weidmann to lead oversight panel after scandal

[WASHINGTON] The International Monetary Fund (IMF) appointed an independent outside panel led by former Bundesbank President Jens Weidmann to strengthen institutional safeguards after accusations against its chief rocked the lender last year.

The panel will conduct a review of the fund's framework for addressing complaints about management and the board, the IMF said in a statement on Friday (Feb 4).

The IMF's executive board in October reviewed accusations that managing director Kristalina Georgieva pressured subordinates to boost China's position in an annual report on business climate in her prior job as the second-highest official at the World Bank.

The board decided that the evidence did not "conclusively demonstrate" that she played an improper role.

After the board's decision, almost 200 staff from the IMF signed a petition asking Georgieva to clarify details of actions that led to the softening of a warning about environmental risks to Brazil's economy, a separate case first reported by Bloomberg News.

Georgieva said all fund rules and procedures were respected in the matter relating to the South American nation.

The panel will build on the work of board and staff steering groups announced in December, as well as prior analysis by the IMF's independent evaluation office.

That work focused on the fund's systems for dissent and accountability, including whistleblower protections, the IMF said.

The panel aims to finalise its report and recommendations by the end of next month, the Washington-based institution said.

Beyond Weidmann as chairman, the external panel will consist of Susan Raines, a professor in the School of Conflict Management, Peacebuilding & Development at Kennesaw State University in Georgia; and Olufemi Elias, a judge on the Islamic Development Bank Administrative Tribunal. Ruben Lamdany, the former deputy director of the IMF's independent evaluation office and a senior economist at the World Bank, will be an adviser to the panel. BLOOMBERG