European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde will resign Feb. 7, ahead of term

European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde will resign Feb. 7, nine months ahead of the end of her 8-year term, the ECB said Thursday. The resignation opens the way for European leaders to choose a successor for the ECB president and other top officials whose terms are ending next year.There had been speculation that Lagarde would leave early to enable EU leaders to choose a successor while pro-EU French President Emmanuel Macron is still in office and guard against the possibility that right-wing presidential candidate Marine Le Pen might win the election and influence the choice.Lagarde, the former head of the International Monetary Fund, was appointed in 2011 to succeed Mario Draghi.