By Andrea Shalal and Cassandra Garrison

WASHINGTON, (Reuters) -The Inter-American Development Bank’s board of governors approved a resolution authorizing the hiring of an outside company to conduct an investigation into allegations that IDB President Mauricio Clever-Carone was in an improper relationship with a subordinate. Sources familiar with the decision confirmed this on Thursday.

Two sources confirmed that while some countries still voted on the matter, sufficient support was achieved to allow for the investigation to continue.

Reuters exclusive reports that Claver Carone was accused of having an intimate relationship with a staffer during a meeting last week.

The spokesperson of the Latin American Regional Development Bank declined to comment on the vote.

Claver Carone stated that Friday’s online meeting was an attack on him by an anonymous media campaign. He hoped to get the chance to respond. Claver-Carone could not immediately be reached to comment on the Thursday board vote.

Claver Carone did not address these specific claims, as they were sent anonymously.

The investigation would not be completed by the firm that was initially chosen.

According to a source familiar with the matter, Claver-Carone was accused of having a relationship with an executive strategist. This accusation was made in an anonymous email to the bank’s board of directors and to its ethics officer at March end. Reuters has yet to see the email.

ClaverCarone and staffer were also accused in the email of using IDB funds improperly, according to one source, but they didn’t give more details.

According to the IDB, its ethics code is posted on their website: “You can’t participate in any employment-related decision about someone you are intimately involved with.”