The Board of Executive Directors of the Inter-American Development Bank approved the appointment of investment banker and former U.S. Treasury official Daniel M. Zelikow as Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, effective March 5, 2007.
“Latin America and the Caribbean, as well as the IDB, are at a turning point,” said IDB President Luis Alberto Moreno. “We are repositioning the Bank to address the new opportunities of our dynamic region. This means having the products and capabilities that our clients demand. Dan Zelikow has the right experience, skills and drive to guide this renewal.”
As COO, Zelikow, 45, will be responsible for the day-to-day management of the institution.
“The IDB is well-positioned to be a force for positive change in Latin America and the Caribbean,” said Zelikow. “It has a unique franchise, tremendous financial strength and a superb staff with unmatched experience and dedication. I am honored that the Board of Directors has given me the opportunity to join President Moreno in advancing his vision for a Bank that is a catalyst for economic growth and prosperity for people in the region.”
Zelikow, a U.S. citizen, comes to the IDB from JPMorgan Securities Inc, where he was Managing Director of the Government Institutions Group. This group manages JPMorgan’s relationships with sovereigns, central banks, and government-owned financial institutions, including multilateral development banks. As Managing Director, Zelikow handled transactions ranging from multibillion dollar restructurings of sovereign commercial debts to the securitization of microfinance loans.
Prior to joining JPMorgan in 1999, Zelikow held key positions in the U.S. Treasury, where he was Deputy Assistant Secretary responsible for financial policy towards countries in the Americas, Asia and Africa. He headed the task force that oversaw the $20 billion emergency financing program the United States established in 1995 to help Mexico stabilize after the peso crisis, and later, US financial support during the Asian and Brazil financial crises.
At Treasury, Zelikow was the founding director of the Office of Technical Assistance, which became one of the largest providers of policy and technical advice to the countries of Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union. He also served for two years as the Senior Economic and Financial Adviser to the President and Minister of Finance of Albania in Tirana.
The IDB’s new Executive Vice President has also been an active contributor and advisor to non-profit institutions as well as to ad hoc committees established by multilateral agencies and think tanks.
A summa cum laude graduate from Dartmouth College, Zelikow received a doctorate in economics from Oxford.
Zelikow will succeed Ciro De Falco, who is retiring after serving 19-years with distinction as a senior executive at the Bank.
The IDB, the world’s oldest and largest regional development bank, is the leading source of multilateral financing for Latin America and the Caribbean. The IDB group also comprises the Inter-American Investment Corporation and the Multilateral Investment Fund, which focus on small and medium-size businesses and microenterprises.