What is it with these international banking fund guys, anyway? It wasn't that long ago that we had the wolfowitz/World Bank incident and now this by way of Reuters:
Probe clears IMF chief of abuse of powerWell, isn't that just great? A little slap on the wrist, and all is well again.
Sat Oct 25, 2008 8:11pm EDT - By Lesley WroughtonWASHINGTON (Reuters) - The International Monetary Fund's board on Saturday cleared Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn of harassment, favoritism and abuse of power following an inquiry into his affair with a subordinate.
While the board stopped short of any type of disciplinary action, its leader, Shakour Shaalan, acknowledged there was concern among female staff about Strauss-Kahn's behavior.
Shaalan said he had warned Strauss-Kahn, a former French finance minister, against any further improper conduct.
"The executive board noted that the incident was regrettable and reflected a serious error of judgment on the part of the managing director," the IMF's board of member countries said in a statement.
_______________
The investigation by an outside lawyer into allegations of improper conduct by Strauss-Kahn found that his affair with Piroska Nagy, who worked in the IMF's Africa department as a senior economist until taking a buyout in August, had been consensual.
"I very much regret the incident and I accept responsibility for it," said Strauss-Kahn who is married to French television personality Anne Sinclair.
_______________
The board sought to deal with the investigation quickly so as not to distract the IMF from its role in dealing with the global financial crisis that has sent markets plunging on fears that the world economy is in for a long and deep recession.
Shaalan told a conference call with reporters that Strauss-Kahn still had the confidence of the board.
"Our conclusion was that this will in no way affect the effectiveness of the managing director in the very challenging and difficult period ahead," said Shaalan, who represents Egypt and other Arab countries on the board.
"This was an unfortunate incident where he expressed his regrets and the board has accepted his apologies," he said, adding, "I personally spoke to him after the meeting and informed him this should not happen again."
Now, on to ruling over the nations of the world banking systems like nothing's happened. These are the guys we are supposed to entrust with major international financial decisions? Get real.
This crew is so damn out of touch with reality. Betcha they had their fingers in the sub-prime loan mess, derivatives and credit swaps if truth be told.
What a crock . . . .
(Cross-posted from Moved to Vancouver)
No comments:
Post a Comment