BREAKING: American David Malpass Named World Bank President

 David Malpass speaks after US President Donald Trump announced his candidacy to lead the World Bank during an event in the Roosevelt Room of the White House in Washington, DC.  Brendan Smialowski / AFP

David Malpass, a senior US Treasury official in President Donald Trump’s administration, was unanimously chosen Friday as the next president of the World Bank.

The selection of Malpass by the bank’s board of directors followed an “open, transparent” nomination process in which citizens of all membership countries were potentially eligible, the bank said in a statement.

But since the bank’s creation following World War II, all of its presidents have been American men, following an unwritten rule that also ensures European leadership at the top of its sister institution, the International Monetary Fund.

The announcement came as expected just prior to next week’s joint spring meetings of the World Bank and the IMF.

Malpass begins his five-year term on Tuesday, replacing former President Jim Yong Kim, whose surprise departure in February came not even halfway through his second term.

Malpass had been the lone candidate for the job and his nomination by Trump earlier this year sparked outrage among critics, who saw it as an affront to the global anti-poverty lender’s very mission.