## Press Release: IMF Executive Board Selects Christine Lagarde as Managing Director

_IMF News, June 28, 2011_

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## Bibliographic details
- Published: June 28, 2011

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### Selection outcome and term
- The Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) selected Christine Lagarde to serve as IMF Managing Director and Madame Chairman of the Executive Board.
- Term: a five-year term starting on July 5, 2011.
- Ms. Lagarde succeeds Mr. Dominique Strauss-Kahn.
- Ms. Lagarde is the first woman named to the top IMF post since the institution’s inception in 1944.

### Selection process and timeline
- Selection process initiated by the Executive Board on May 20, 2011 (see Press Release No. 11/191).
- The Board agreed to meet with two candidates: Mr. Agustín Carstens and Ms. Lagarde.
- Candidates met bilaterally with Executive Directors, as well as the Executive Board, during June 20-23, 2011.
- The 24-member Executive Board, representing the IMF’s 187 member countries, concluded the selection by consensus after considering the candidate profile and all relevant information on the candidacies.

### Role and institutional context
- The Managing Director is the chief of the IMF’s operating staff and Chairman of the Executive Board.
- The chief executive is assisted by three Deputy Managing Directors in the operation of the Fund.
- Institutional scale: serves 187 member countries through about 2,700 staff from more than 140 countries.

### Christine Lagarde — professional background
- Age: 55.
- Nationality: France.
- Government positions:
  - Minister of Finance of France since June 2007.
  - Prior: France’s Minister for Foreign Trade for two years.
- Legal career:
  - Extensive career as an anti-trust and labor lawyer.
  - Partner with the international law firm of Baker & McKenzie.
  - Elected chairman of Baker & McKenzie in October 1999; held the top post until June 2005.
- Education and academia:
  - Degrees from Institute of Political Studies (IEP) and from the Law School of Paris X University.
  - Lectured at Paris X University prior to joining Baker & McKenzie in 1981.

### Additional reference provided in release
- For additional background on the Managing Director Selection Process, see: http://www.imf.org/external/np/exr/facts/mdsp.htm

*Press Release No. 11/259 — IMF, June 28, 2011.*

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## References

- [France and the IMF](http://www.imf.org/external/country/FRA/index.htm)
- [Press Releases](https://www.imf.org/en/news/searchnews)
- [https://www.imf.org/external/07/images/Lagarde_06232011.png](https://www.imf.org/external/07/images/Lagarde_06232011.png)
- [Christine Lagarde](https://www.imf.org/external/np/omd/bios/cl.htm)
- [Statement by Christine Lagarde on Her Selection as IMF Managing Director](https://www.imf.org/external/np/sec/pr/2011/pr11260.htm)
- [Managing Director Selection Process](https://www.imf.org/external/np/ed/md/2000/)
- [PRESS CENTER](http://presscenter.imf.org/)
- [Press Release No. 11/191](https://www.imf.org/external/np/sec/pr/2011/pr11191.htm)
- [http://www.imf.org/external/np/exr/facts/mdsp.htm](https://www.imf.org/external/np/exr/facts/mdsp.htm)
- [https://www.imf.org/en/home](https://www.imf.org/en/home)

_Source: https://www.imf.org/en/news/articles/2015/09/14/01/49/pr11259_