Press Release: IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde Welcomes U.S. Congressional Approval of the 2010 Quota and Governance Reforms

IMF News, December 18, 2015

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Press Release No. 15/573
December 18, 2015
IMF COMMUNICATIONS DEPARTMENT, Media Relations
- E-mail: media@imf.org
- Phone: 202-623-7100
Ms. Christine Lagarde, Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), welcomed the adoption of legislation by the U.S. Congress to authorize the 2010 Quota and Governance Reforms.
Purpose of reforms as stated: strengthen the IMF in its role of supporting global financial stability, significantly increase the IMF's core resources to respond to crises more effectively, and improve the IMF's governance by better reflecting the increasing role of dynamic emerging and developing countries.

Approved by the Board of Governors in December 2010 (builds on earlier reforms approved in April 2008).
Components include:
- Quota increases for all member countries under the 14th General Review of Quotas.
- An amendment to the Articles of Agreement on the reform of the Executive Board enabling an all-elected Executive Board for the first time.
Membership acceptance requirement: an 85 percent majority of the total voting power, which in many cases involved parliamentary approval.

All 188 members’ quotas will increase as a result of the agreed bolstering of the Fund’s quota resources to about SDR 477 billion (about US$659.67 billion) from about SDR 238.5 billion (about US$329.83 billion).
More than 6 percent of quota shares will shift to dynamic emerging market and developing countries and also from over-represented to under-represented members.
Four emerging market countries—Brazil, China, India, and Russia—will be among the ten largest members of the IMF.
Other top 10 members include the United States, Japan, and the four largest European countries (France, Germany, Italy, and the United Kingdom).
The quota shares and voting power of the IMF’s poorest member countries will be protected.
For the first time, the IMF’s Board will consist entirely of elected Executive Directors, ending the category of appointed Executive Directors (currently the members with the five largest quotas appoint an Executive Director).
There will be further scope for appointing a second Alternate Executive Director in multi-country constituencies with seven or more members to enhance the constituency’s representation in the Executive Board.
Advanced European countries have committed to reduce their combined Board representation by two chairs.
The doubling of quotas together with the shift in quota shares and the move to an all-elected Board mark a significant step forward in the process of IMF quota and governance reforms.

Source: IMF Press Release No. 15/573, December 18, 2015.