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French Finance Minister, Christine Lagarde emerged the leading contender to replace Dominique Strauss-Kahn at the International Monetary Fund (IMF), as developing nations failed to unite behind a candidate. U.S. Treasury Secretary, Timothy F. Geithner called for the quick appointment of a new managing director last week while the Obama administration avoided backing any one person. �We want to see an open process that leads to a prompt succession,� Geithner said in a statement. �John Lipsky, the Washington-based IMF�s acting managing director, will provide able and experienced leadership to the fund at this critical time for the global economy,� Geithner said. European officials moved to maintain control over the institution that approved a record $91.7 billion in emergency loans last year and provides a third of the euro-area�s bailout packages. Italy and Sweden backed Lagarde, while German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwlle said he holds her in high esteem, the first public hint of German support. �I would argue that Christine Lagarde has outstanding credentials,� Swedish Finance Minister Anders Borg said in a Bloomberg Television interview yesterday. Her gender is an �advantage� since �half of the world has not been represented as managing director� of the IMF, Borg said. Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi said Lagarde would be �an excellent choice� as Europe�s candidate, the Italian government said in an e-mailed statement. Prime Minister Berlusconi said it�s �fundamental� that Europe should reach a common position on who the candidate should be as soon as possible, the statement said. Lagarde is now the �odds-on� favourite for the IMF�s top job after being a �20-1 outsider when betting began,� London-based bookmaker, William Hill Plc said in an e-mailed statement. Trailing her were form er, Turkish Economy Minister Kemal Dervis and South Africa�s ex-Finance Minister, Trevor Manuel, at 3-1 and 5-1 odds, respectively.Officials in emerging markets including Thailand, Russia and South Africa said the next IMF managing director should come from a developing nation even as they failed to unite behind one candidate the way Europe coalesced around Lagarde. While Chinese officials haven�t publicly endorsed any candidate, Thailand and the Philippines backed Singapore Finance Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam as a possible choice to succeed Strauss-Kahn at the IMF.