The names of former United States ambassador to the United Nations Nicky Hailey and daughter of US President Donald Trump and his adviser Ivanka are among the candidates for the post of World Bank president to replace outgoing Kim Jong-kim, the Financial Times reported.
On Monday, Kim suddenly announced he was stepping down as bank president more than three years before the end of his second term.
In addition to Ivanka Trump and Nicky Hayley, who resigned as Washington's ambassador to the UN Security Council last month, other names are also being traded, including Assistant Secretary of State for International Affairs David Malpas and Mark Green, president of the US Agency for International Development.
In 2017, Ivanka Trump was the driving force behind a $ 1 billion World Bank fund supported by Saudi Arabia to support women's projects.
The US Treasury Department told AFP yesterday it had no comment on potential candidates, and a spokesman said the ministry had received "a large number of nominations."
"We have started an internal review of an American candidate. We look forward to working with the referees to choose a new president. "
Under a non-written agreement, the United States, the largest shareholder in the fund, has always chosen a bank president since its establishment in the wake of the Second World War.
However, the arrival of an American candidate is no longer guaranteed.
Kim was the first US candidate to fight in a race to head the bank in 2012.
The board said the selection process would be "transparent and merit-based" suggesting that non-US candidates would not be excluded.
The World Bank said on Thursday it would begin accepting nominations for the bank's presidency early next month and would announce a successor to Kim by mid-April.