The darling of the Davos political and financial elite, Christian Lagarde has a second term at the helm of the International Monetary Fund sewn up just days after nominations opened, despite facing possible trial in France.

The former French finance minister, regularly listed among the world's 10 most powerful women, used the annual World Economic Forum meeting in the Swiss Alps — an echo chamber for her policy prescriptions — to announce her candidacy and secure instant support from global movers and shakers.

In a gesture of cross-Channel entente, British finance minister George Osborne formally nominated the center-right Lagarde, 60, within minutes of the appointment process opening.