Biden to Nominate Former Mastercard Executive Ajay Banga to Lead World Bank

If chosen, Mr. Banga would succeed

David Malpass,

an appointee of former President

Donald Trump

who announced last week that he would step down from the role on June 30.

“Ajay is uniquely equipped to lead the World Bank at this critical moment in history,” Mr. Biden said in a statement. “He has spent more than three decades building and managing successful, global companies that create jobs and bring investment to developing economies, and guiding organizations through periods of fundamental change.”

The Biden administration, led by Treasury Secretary

Janet Yellen,

has sought to focus the World Bank’s work more directly on addressing climate change. Ms. Yellen has said the institution could stretch its balance sheet, better mobilize private capital to invest in the developing world and provide more financing directly to localities.

Ms. Yellen’s focus on climate change came as Mr. Malpass faced criticism over his remarks on climate change. He said, “I am not a scientist,” when asked at a

New York Times

event if he believed that human activity contributed to global change. Mr. Malpass, who later said he believed humans were contributing to climate change, will step down before the end of his five-year term in 2024.

Biden administration officials have been quietly discussing potential candidates to succeed Mr. Malpass for weeks, according to people familiar with the matter. Before announcing his decision publicly, Mr. Malpass informed administration officials that he was considering stepping down, some of the people said.

During a press conference in Bengaluru, India, on Thursday before the announcement of Mr. Banga’s nomination, Ms. Yellen said the U.S. would select a candidate that shared its agenda for the bank.

“We intend to put forward a candidate to lead the World Bank that we think meets the strong, has the strong qualifications necessary to lead the World Bank and will be committed to the kind of reform process that we want to see the bank engaged in,” she said.

She also thanked Mr. Malpass for his leadership of the institution. “Under his leadership, the Bank has measurably improved the lives of people around the world,” she said.

The World Bank has played a major role in the response to Covid-19, providing $157 billion to address the pandemic while also providing $170 billion to address the impact of Russia’s war in Ukraine.

Raised in India, Mr. Banga oversaw a more than 13-fold increase in Mastercard’s market capitalization while CEO, expanding the business from a predominantly card-based company to one offering a range of payment technologies. He joined General Atlantic, a private-equity firm, as vice chairman in 2021.

He has cultivated ties to top Democrats, serving on a cybersecurity commission during the Obama administration. Mr. Obama also named him to serve on a committee advising the U.S. trade representative. More recently, he was among a group of business leaders who advised Vice President

Kamala Harris

on the administration’s work in El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras.

Following Mr. Malpass’s decision to step down, the U.S. faced pressure from some advocacy groups and World Bank officials to choose a woman to succeed him. Since the World Bank was established in 1944, it has never been led by a woman.

“It is definitely time for a woman to lead the World Bank,”

Svenja Schulze,

Germany’s international development minister and a World Bank governor, said in a statement earlier this week.

In the coming weeks, Mr. Biden is expected to announce his nominees for two other key economic positions in his administration: Labor secretary and the vice chair of the Federal Reserve. Labor Secretary

Marty Walsh

is stepping down in mid-March and

Lael Brainard,

the former Fed vice chair, started this week in her new role as director of the National Economic Council.

Julie Su,

the Labor Department’s deputy secretary, is the leading candidate to succeed Mr. Walsh, according to people familiar with the matter. Asian-American advocacy groups and lawmakers have endorsed Ms. Su for the job, urging Mr. Biden to name his first Asian-American cabinet secretary. Ms. Harris, U.S. Trade Rep.

Katherine Tai

and

Arati Prabhakar,

the director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, are all members of the cabinet but aren’t secretaries.

Janice Eberly,

a finance professor at Northwestern University, and

Karen Dynan,

an economist at Harvard University, are under consideration to become the Federal Reserve’s vice chair, according to people familiar with the matter.

—Ken Thomas contributed to this article.

Write to Andrew Duehren at [email protected] and Andrew Restuccia at [email protected]

If chosen, Mr. Banga would succeed

David Malpass,

an appointee of former President

Donald Trump

who announced last week that he would step down from the role on June 30.

“Ajay is uniquely equipped to lead the World Bank at this critical moment in history,” Mr. Biden said in a statement. “He has spent more than three decades building and managing successful, global companies that create jobs and bring investment to developing economies, and guiding organizations through periods of fundamental change.”

The Biden administration, led by Treasury Secretary

Janet Yellen,

has sought to focus the World Bank’s work more directly on addressing climate change. Ms. Yellen has said the institution could stretch its balance sheet, better mobilize private capital to invest in the developing world and provide more financing directly to localities.

Ms. Yellen’s focus on climate change came as Mr. Malpass faced criticism over his remarks on climate change. He said, “I am not a scientist,” when asked at a

New York Times

event if he believed that human activity contributed to global change. Mr. Malpass, who later said he believed humans were contributing to climate change, will step down before the end of his five-year term in 2024.

Biden administration officials have been quietly discussing potential candidates to succeed Mr. Malpass for weeks, according to people familiar with the matter. Before announcing his decision publicly, Mr. Malpass informed administration officials that he was considering stepping down, some of the people said.

During a press conference in Bengaluru, India, on Thursday before the announcement of Mr. Banga’s nomination, Ms. Yellen said the U.S. would select a candidate that shared its agenda for the bank.

“We intend to put forward a candidate to lead the World Bank that we think meets the strong, has the strong qualifications necessary to lead the World Bank and will be committed to the kind of reform process that we want to see the bank engaged in,” she said.

She also thanked Mr. Malpass for his leadership of the institution. “Under his leadership, the Bank has measurably improved the lives of people around the world,” she said.

The World Bank has played a major role in the response to Covid-19, providing $157 billion to address the pandemic while also providing $170 billion to address the impact of Russia’s war in Ukraine.

Raised in India, Mr. Banga oversaw a more than 13-fold increase in Mastercard’s market capitalization while CEO, expanding the business from a predominantly card-based company to one offering a range of payment technologies. He joined General Atlantic, a private-equity firm, as vice chairman in 2021.

He has cultivated ties to top Democrats, serving on a cybersecurity commission during the Obama administration. Mr. Obama also named him to serve on a committee advising the U.S. trade representative. More recently, he was among a group of business leaders who advised Vice President

Kamala Harris

on the administration’s work in El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras.

Following Mr. Malpass’s decision to step down, the U.S. faced pressure from some advocacy groups and World Bank officials to choose a woman to succeed him. Since the World Bank was established in 1944, it has never been led by a woman.

“It is definitely time for a woman to lead the World Bank,”

Svenja Schulze,

Germany’s international development minister and a World Bank governor, said in a statement earlier this week.

In the coming weeks, Mr. Biden is expected to announce his nominees for two other key economic positions in his administration: Labor secretary and the vice chair of the Federal Reserve. Labor Secretary

Marty Walsh

is stepping down in mid-March and

Lael Brainard,

the former Fed vice chair, started this week in her new role as director of the National Economic Council.

Julie Su,

the Labor Department’s deputy secretary, is the leading candidate to succeed Mr. Walsh, according to people familiar with the matter. Asian-American advocacy groups and lawmakers have endorsed Ms. Su for the job, urging Mr. Biden to name his first Asian-American cabinet secretary. Ms. Harris, U.S. Trade Rep.

Katherine Tai

and

Arati Prabhakar,

the director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, are all members of the cabinet but aren’t secretaries.

Janice Eberly,

a finance professor at Northwestern University, and

Karen Dynan,

an economist at Harvard University, are under consideration to become the Federal Reserve’s vice chair, according to people familiar with the matter.

—Ken Thomas contributed to this article.

Write to Andrew Duehren at [email protected] and Andrew Restuccia at [email protected]