Trump names investment banker as top US IMF official

President Trump on Wednesday announced the appointment of Mark Rosen, a Bank of America Merrill Lynch executive, as the next U.S. executive director at the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

Rosen, currently head of Latin America investment banking at Bank of America, is set to serve as the IMF’s top American official for a term of two years. The Harvard and Oxford graduate has more than 30 years of experience in investment banking, according to a White House press release Wednesday afternoon.

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The Connecticut businessman also speaks fluent Spanish and previously worked at firms including Barclays and Credit Suisse, according to the release.

Rosen’s new job thrusts him to the center of the global spotlight on Trump’s protectionist trade policies, as the traditionally pro-free trade organization has in the past clashed with administration officials over economics.

Trump’s recent announcement of steep tariffs on imported steel and aluminum were widely criticized by U.S. allies.

The IMF also came out against the GOP tax plan, which Trump signed into law in December, claiming that the proposal would not expand the economy as much as Republican leaders hoped.

In October, IMF officials feuded with Office of Management and Budget chief Mick Mulvaney, who accused the organization of having a vested interest in seeing Trump’s economic plan fail after IMF officials revised a forecast of U.S. economic growth down from 2.3 percent to 2.1 percent.

“There are folks that are invested in seeing this fail because if it works then what is their argument for re-regulating?” Mulvaney told the Financial Times last year.

“By the same token, if lowering taxes does actually lead to growth, what is their argument going to be for raising taxes in the future?” he asked.