The highest authority of the International Monetary Fund is the Board of Governors, which is composed of one chairperson and one vice-governor from each member country, who are generally served by the finance ministers or central bank governors of each country. A meeting is held in September every year. Each council exercises its own country's voting rights individually (the size of each country's voting rights is determined by the amount of the fund share it pays); the executive board is responsible for daily work and exercises all powers entrusted by the council. It is composed of 24 members. It is composed of executive directors, 8 of whom are appointed by the United States, Britain, France, Germany, Japan, Russia, China, and Saudi Arabia. The remaining 16 executive directors are elected by other members in 16 constituencies; China is a separate constituency and also has one seat. The executive director is elected every two years; the president is elected by the executive board and is responsible for the business work of the Fund. The term is 5 years and can be re-elected. The current president is Christine Lagarde, and there are four vice presidents.

The President of the World Bank is elected by the Executive Board and is the head of the bank’s administrative organization. Under the guidance of the relevant principles and policies of the Executive Board, he is responsible for the daily administrative work of the bank, appointing and removing senior staff and work of the bank. The president also serves as the chairman of the executive board, but does not have voting rights. A decisive vote can only be cast if both parties have an equal number of votes in the Executive Board vote.