World Bank's Zoellick shuffles top management

World Bank Chief Robert Zoellick gestures while speaking at the Asia Society's annual dinner in Sydney August 14, 2011.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - World Bank President Robert Zoellick shuffled top management on Friday, naming bank veteran Caroline Anstey to one of the top four posts, tasked with further modernizing the poverty-fighting institution.

The changes reflect in part the departure of four senior managers, and the rapid rise and increased cooperation among developing countries in Asia, Latin America and Africa.

Anstey, a British national, succeeds Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala as one of the World Bank's three managing directors. Okonjo-Iweala returned to Nigeria earlier this month to head the country's finance portfolio.

Anstey joined the bank in 1995 and held a variety of posts, including speechwriter to former bank president James Wolfensohn, chief of media, country director for the Caribbean, chief of staff to Zoellick and the bank's official to the Group of 20.

In a note to staff, Zoellick said he had changed the portfolios of the managing directors to "better align the World Bank's structure."

Anstey will help the institution to respond more quickly and with more flexibility to the needs of developing countries, while also ensuring projects are results driven.

The bank has also stepped up a drive to tackle corruption in its projects in developing countries.

Zoellick said former Indonesian Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati, who joined the bank as managing director last year, will oversee operations of all six regions.

"This structure should help us leverage cross-regional synergies and cooperation, and scale up South-South development," Zoellick said.

Mahmoud Mohieldin, the other managing director, will try to strengthen the institution's knowledge and learning services and find solutions to reduce global poverty.

Among other changes, Inger Andersen, a former U.N. official and Arabic speaker, was named vice president for the Middle East and North Africa. She succeeds Shamshad Akhtar, a former governor of the State Bank of Pakistan, who resigned.

Pamela Cox, who had led the Latin American region for the World Bank, was named vice president for East Asia, replacing Jim Adams, who is retiring.

(Editing by Jeffrey Benkoe)