Ayanna Nahmias, Editor-in-ChiefLast Modified: 19:47 p.m. EDT, 28 June 2011

PARIS, France - French Finance Minister Christine Lagarde has been named as the new managing director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) today.

Her five-year appointment begins on July 5th and she is the first woman to lead the multilateral lender to nations.

Lagarde succeeds countryman Dominique Strauss-Kahn, who resigned on May 18 after being arrested on charges of sexually assaulting and attempting to rape a hotel maid in New York. He is currently under arrest in New York while awaiting trial, Strauss-Kahn pleaded not guilty earlier this month.

Lagarde assumes leadership of the organization at a time when a deteriorating debt crisis in Greece has shaken global markets and cast doubt on the Euro's future. Her nomination for this top post was by no means assured. She beat out Mexican central bank Gov. Agustin Carstens with recommendations from the United States, Brazil and Russia.

The 24-member executive board, which represents the IMF's 187 member nations, said the two candidates were "well qualified" and that its objective was to select one "by consensus." The BRICs bloc of big emerging-market economies - Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa - had initially said Europe's lock on the managing director post was the result of an "obsolete unwritten convention" and that choosing a new leader based on his or her nationality would undermine the Fund's legitimacy.