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What Is the IMF Reform Package?

In late 2010 the IMF Executive Board, with strong behind-the-scenes support from the Obama Administration, proposed a series of reforms that would increase the voting power of certain emerging market nations. Additionally, these reforms would double the amount of member countries’ national “quota” contributions—the primary source of funding for IMF loans. The higher “quota” levels would come from shifting certain special “emergency account” funds over which the United States has had more control. Loss of U.S. control over these “emergency account” funds could also expose U.S. taxpayers to billions of dollars in additional financial liability from morally hazardous IMF loans (e.g. to Greece).

The reform package would also change the rules for IMF Executive Board elections, and the U.S. would lose its current right to appoint its own representative to the board—the epicenter of power at the IMF.

Instead, under the new rules, the U.S. executive director would have to be elected and, if enough other countries were opposed to the person nominated by the U.S., it is possible that a future American President might not be able to name someone to the IMF who shared his or her political and economic philosophies.

The U.S. has the largest quota of any country in the world, as well as the largest single-nation IMF voting share (16.75 percent). It has also been the only country in the world with veto power at the IMF. Due to the constitutional role of Congress, and the U.S. veto power, Congress must therefore approve this IMF reform package before it can go into effect

http://blog.heritage.org/2014/03/17/qa-international-monetary-fund-reforms-u-s-aid-ukraine/