World Bank General Counsel resigns

10 March 2008

World Bank Group General Counsel Ana Palacio is resigning her position, effective April 15, further diminishing former World Bank president, Paul Wolfowitz's legacy.

World Bank Group General Counsel Ana Palacio is resigning her position, effective April 15. In an internal note to Bank staff, World Bank President Robert Zoellick thanked Ms. Palacio for her service and cited her accomplishments.

In June 2006, Ms. Palacio, the former Foreign Minister of Spain, was appointed General Counsel of the World Bank Group, the first counsel to represent all arms of the multilateral lender. Ms. Palacio was appointed by former World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz in a move that was widely interpreted as a reward for Spain's earlier support for the U.S. invasion of Iraq; Mr. Wolfowitz had been its principal architect. Ms. Palacio's standing was weakened by Mr. Wolfowitz's widespread unpopularity inside the Bank and eventual resignation in June 2007.

Nearly all the senior officials appointed by Mr. Wolfowitz have left the Bank, save for Managing Director Juan Jose Daboub.

Deputy General Counsel Scott White will serve as Acting General Counsel as of April 16.

While Spanish media has widely covered Ms. Palacio's resignation, the Bank's website does not contain any readily available information.

Sources

Regime Changed, by Al Kamen, March 5, 2008. (Washington Post.com website)

Ana Palacio deja la vicepresidencia del Banco Mundial, El Pais, March 4, 2008. (El Pais.com website)

Ana Palacio abandona el Banco Mundial, by Pablo Pardo, March 4, 2008. (El Mundo.es website)

Copy of President Robert Zoellick's internal memo (El Mundo.es website) (Adobe pdf, 36 KB)