IMF - docWORLD BANK & ITS OTHER INSTITUTIONS
IMF - docWORLD BANK & ITS OTHER INSTITUTIONS
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) (French : Fonds montaire international) is an international organization that was initiated in 1944 at the Bretton Woods Conference and formally created in 1945 by 29 member countries. The IMF's stated goal was to assist in the reconstruction of the world's international payment system postWorld War II. Countries contribute money to a pool through a quota system from which countries with payment imbalances can borrow funds temporarily. Through this activity and others such as surveillance of its members' economies and the demand for self-correcting policies, the IMF works to improve the economies of its member countries. The IMF describes itself as an organization of 188 countries, working to foster global monetary cooperation, secure financial stability, facilitate international trade, promote high employment and sustainable economic growth, and reduce poverty around the world.The organization's stated objectives are to promote international economic cooperation, international trade, employment, and exchange rate stability, including by making financial resources available to member countries to meet balance of payments needs. Its headquarters are in Washington, D.C., United States.
Abbreviation Formation Type Headquarters Membership Official languages Managing Director Main organ Website
International Economic Organization Washington, D.C., United States 29 countries (founding); 188 countries (to date) English, French, and Spanish Christine Lagarde Board of Governors www.imf.org
Functions
The IMF works to foster global growth and economic stability. It provides policy advice and financing to members in economic difficulties and also works with developing nations to help them achieve macroeconomic stability and reduce poverty. The rationale for this is that private international capital markets function imperfectly and many countries have limited access to financial markets. Such market imperfections, together with balance of payments financing, provide the justification for official financing, without which many countries could only correct large external payment imbalances through measures with adverse effects on both national and international economic prosperity. The IMF can provide other sources of financing to countries in need that would not be available in the absence of an economic stabilization program supported by the Fund. Upon initial IMF formation, its two primary functions were: to oversee the fixed exchange rate arrangements between countries, thus helping national governments manage their exchange rates and allowing these governments to prioritize economic growth, and to provide short-term capital to aid balance-of-payments. This assistance was meant to prevent the spread of international economic crises. The Fund was also intended to help mend the pieces of the international economy post the Great Depression and World War II. The IMF's role was fundamentally altered after the floating exchange rates post 1971. It shifted to examining the economic policies of countries with IMF loan agreements to determine if a shortage of capital was due to economic fluctuations or economic policy. The IMF also researched what types of government policy would ensure economic recovery. The new challenge is to promote and implement policy that reduces the frequency of crises among the emerging market countries, especially the middle-income countries that are open to massive capital outflows. Rather than maintaining a position of oversight of only exchange rates, their function became one of surveillance of the overall macroeconomic performance of its member countries. Their role became a lot more active because the IMF now manages economic policy instead of just exchange rates. In addition, the IMF negotiates conditions on lending and loans under their policy of conditionality, which was established in the 1950s. Low-income countries can borrow on concessional terms, which means there is a period of time with no interest rates, through the Extended Credit Facility (ECF), the Standby Credit Facility (SCF) and the Rapid Credit Facility (RCF). Nonconcessional loans, which include interest rates, are provided mainly through Stand-By Arrangements (SBA), the Flexible Credit Line (FCL), the Precautionary and Liquidity Line (PLL), and the Extended Fund Facility. The IMF provides emergency assistance via the newly introduced Rapid Financing Instrument (RFI) to all its members facing urgent balance of payments needs.
World Bank
The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans to developing countries for capital programs. The World Bank's official goal is the reduction of poverty. According to its Articles of Agreement (as amended effective 16 February 1989), all its decisions must be guided by a commitment to the promotion of foreign investment and international trade and to the facilitation of capital investment. Motto Type Legal status Purpose/focus Location Membership President Main organ Parent organization Website 172 countries (IDA) Jim Yong Kim Board of Directors World Bank Group worldbank.org Working for a World Free of Poverty International organization Treaty Crediting Washington, D.C., U.S. 188 countries (IBRD)
The World Bank comprises two institutions: 1. The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) and 2. The International Development Association (IDA). The World Bank should not be confused with the World Bank Group, which comprises the World Bank, the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA), and the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID)
History
The World Bank was created at the 1944 Bretton Woods Conference, along with three other institutions, including the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The World Bank and the IMF are both based in Washington DC, and work closely with each other. Although many countries were represented at the Bretton Woods Conference, the United States and United Kingdom were the most powerful in attendance and dominated the negotiations.Traditionally, the World Bank has been headed by a citizen of the United States, while the IMF has been led by a European citizen.
19441968
Before 1968, the reconstruction and development loans provided by the World Bank were relatively small. The Bank's staff was aware of the need to instill confidence in the bank. Fiscal conservatism ruled, and loan applications had to meet strict criteria. The first country to receive a World Bank loan was France. The Bank's president at the time, John McCoy, chose France over two other applicants, Poland and Chile. The loan was for US$250 million, half the amount requested, and it came with strict conditions. France had to agree to produce a balanced budget and give priority of debt repayment to the World Bank over other governments. World Bank staff closely monitored the use of the funds to ensure that the French government met the conditions. In addition, before the loan was approved, the United States State Department told the French government that its members associated with the Communist Party would first have to be removed. The French government complied with this diktat and removed the Communist coalition government. Within hours, the loan to France was approved. When the Marshall Plan went into effect in 1947, many European countries began receiving aid from other sources. Faced with this competition, the World Bank shifted its focus to non-European countries. Until 1968, its loans were earmarked for the construction of income-producing infrastructure, such as seaports, highway systems, and power plants that would generate enough income to enable a borrower country to repay the loan.
19681980
From 1968 to 1980, the bank concentrated on meeting the basic needs of people in the developing world. The size and number of loans to borrowers was greatly increased as loan targets expanded from infrastructure into social services and other sectors. In 1980, the World Bank Administrative Tribunal was established to decide on disputes between the World Bank Group and its staff where allegation of non-observance of contracts of employment or terms of appointment had not been honored.
19801989
In 1980, McNamara was succeeded by US President Jimmy Carter's nominee, A.W. Clausen. Clausen replaced many members of McNamara's staff and instituted a new ideological focus. His 1982 decision to replace the bank's Chief Economist, Hollis B. Chenery, with Anne Krueger was an indication of this new focus. Krueger was known for her criticism of development funding and for describing Third World governments as "rent-seeking states." During the 1980s, the bank emphasized lending to service Third-World debt, and structural adjustment policies designed to streamline the economies of developing nations. UNICEF reported in the late 1980s that the structural adjustment programs of the World Bank had been responsible for "reduced health, nutritional and educational levels for tens of millions of children in Asia, Latin America, and Africa"
1989present
Beginning in 1989, in response to harsh criticism from many groups, the bank began including environmental groups and NGOs in its loans to mitigate the past effects of its development policies that had prompted the criticism. It also formed an implementing agency, in accordance with the Montreal Protocols, to stop ozone-depletion damage to the Earth's atmosphere by phasing out the use of 95% of ozone-depleting chemicals, with a target date of 2015. Since then, in accordance with its so-called "Six Strategic Themes," the bank has put various additional policies into effect to preserve the environment while promoting development. For example, in 1991, the bank announced that to protect against deforestation, especially in the Amazon, it would not finance any commercial logging or infrastructure projects that harm the environment. In order to promote global public goods, the World Bank tries to control communicable disease such as malaria, delivering vaccines to several parts of the world and joining combat forces. In 2000, the bank announced a "war on AIDS", and in 2011, the Bank joined the Stop Tuberculosis Partnership. Traditionally, based on a tacit understanding between the United States and Europe, the president of the World Bank has always been selected from candidates nominated by the United States. In 2012, for the first time, two non-US citizens were nominated. On 23 March 2012, U.S. President Barack Obama announced that the United States would nominate Jim Yong Kim as the next president of the Bank.[16] Jim Yong Kim was elected on 27 April 2012.
Criteria
Many achievements have brought the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) targets for 2015 within reach in some cases. For the goals to be realized, six criteria must be met: stronger and more inclusive growth in Africa and fragile states, more effort in health and education, integration of the development and environment agendas, more and better aid, movement on trade negotiations, and stronger and more focused support from multilateral institutions like the World Bank. 1. Eradicate Extreme Poverty and Hunger : From 1990 through 2004, the proportion of people living in extreme poverty fell from almost a third to less than a fifth. Although results vary widely within regions and countries, the trend indicates that the world as a whole can meet the goal of halving the percentage of people living in poverty. Africa's poverty, however, is expected to rise, and most of the 36 countries where 90% of the world's undernourished children live are in Africa. Less than a quarter of countries are on track for achieving the goal of halving under-nutrition. 2. Achieve Universal Primary Education: The percentage of children in school in developing countries increased from 80% in 1991 to 88% in 2005. Still, about 72 million children of primary school age, 57% of them girls, were not being educated as of 2005.
3. Promote Gender Equality: The tide is turning slowly for women in the labor market, yet far more women than men- worldwide more than 60% are contributing but unpaid family workers. The World Bank Group Gender Action Plan was created to advance women's economic empowerment and promote shared growth. 4. Reduce Child Mortality: There is some what improvement in survival rates globally; accelerated improvements are needed most urgently in South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa. An estimated 10 million-plus children under five died in 2005; most of their deaths were from preventable causes. 5. Improve Maternal Health: Almost all of the half million women who die during pregnancy or childbirth every year live in Sub-Saharan Africa and Asia. There are numerous causes of maternal death that require a variety of health care interventions to be made widely accessible. 6. Combat HIV/AIDS, Malaria, and Other Diseases: Annual numbers of new HIV infections and AIDS deaths have fallen, but the number of people living with HIV continues to grow. In the eight worst-hit southern African countries, prevalence is above 15 percent. Treatment has increased globally, but still meets only 30 percent of needs (with wide variations across countries). AIDS remains the leading cause of death in Sub-Saharan Africa (1.6 million deaths in 2007). There are 300 to 500 million cases of malaria each year, leading to more than 1 million deaths. Nearly all the cases and more than 95 percent of the deaths occur in Sub-Saharan Africa. 7. Ensure Environmental Sustainability: Deforestation remains a critical problem, particularly in regions of biological diversity, which continues to decline. Greenhouse gas emissions are increasing faster than energy technology advancement. 8. Develop a Global Partnership for Development : Donor countries have renewed their commitment. Donors have to fulfill their pledges to match the current rate of core program development. Emphasis is being placed on the Bank Group's collaboration with multilateral and local partners to quicken progress toward the MDGs' realization. To make sure that World Bank-financed operations do not compromise these goals but instead add to their realization, environmental, social and legal Safeguards were defined. However these Safeguards have not been implemented entirely yet. At the World Bank's annual meeting in Tokyo 2012 a review of these Safeguards has been initiated which was welcomed by several civil society organizations.
Leadership
The President of the Bank is the president of the entire World Bank Group. The president, currently Jim Yong Kim, is responsible for chairing the meetings of the Boards of Directors and for overall management of the Bank.
Traditionally, the Bank President has always been a US citizen nominated by the United States, the largest shareholder in the bank. The nominee is subject to confirmation by the Board of Executive Directors, to serve for a five-year, renewable term. While most World Bank presidents have had banking experience, some have not. The vice presidents of the Bank are its principal managers, in charge of regions, sectors, networks and functions. There are two Executive Vice Presidents, three Senior Vice Presidents, and 24 Vice Presidents. The Boards of Directors consist of the World Bank Group President and 25 Executive Directors. The President is the presiding officer, and ordinarily has no vote except a deciding vote in case of an equal division. The Executive Directors as individuals cannot exercise any power nor commit or represent the Bank unless specifically authorized by the Boards to do so. With the term beginning 1 November 2010, the number of Executive Directors increased by one, to 25.
Members
The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) has 188 member countries, while the International Development Association (IDA) has 172 members. Each member state of IBRD should be also a member of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and only members of IBRD are allowed to join other institutions within the Bank (such as IDA).
Voting power
In 2010, voting powers at the World Bank were revised to increase the voice of developing countries, notably China. The countries with most voting power are now the United States (15.85%), Japan (6.84%), China (4.42%), Germany (4.00%), the United Kingdom (3.75%), France (3.75%), India (2.91%), Russia (2.77%), Saudi Arabia (2.77%) and Italy (2.64%). Under the changes, known as 'Voice Reform Phase 2', countries other than China that saw significant gains included South Korea, Turkey, Mexico, Singapore, Greece, Brazil, India, and Spain. Most developed countries' voting power was reduced, along with a few poor countries such as Nigeria. The voting powers of the United States, Russia and Saudi Arabia were unchanged. The changes were brought about with the goal of making voting more universal in regards to standards, rule-based with objective indicators, and transparent among other things. Now, developing countries have an increased voice in the "Pool Model," backed especially by Europe. Additionally, voting power is based on economic size in addition to International Development Association contributions.
The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) is an international financial institution which offers loans to middle-income developing countries. The IBRD is the first of five member institutions which compose the World Bank Group and is headquartered in Washington, D.C., United States. It was established in 1944 with the mission of financing the reconstruction of European nations devastated by World War II. Together, the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development and its concessional lending arm, the International Development Association, are collectively known as the World Bank as they share the same leadership and staff.
Formation Type Legal status Purpose/focus Headquarters Membership President of the World Bank Parent organization Website
1944 Development finance institution Treaty Development assistance, Poverty reduction Washington, D.C., United States 188 countries Jim Yong Kim World Bank Group worldbank.org/ibrd
The IBRD provides commercial-grade or concessional financing to sovereign states to fund projects that seek to improve transportation and infrastructure, education, domestic policy, environmental consciousness, energy investments, healthcare, access to food and potable water, and access to improved sanitation. The IBRD is owned and governed by its member states, but has its own executive leadership and staff which conduct its normal business operations. The Bank's member governments are shareholders which contribute paid-in capital and have the right to vote on its matters. In addition to contributions from its member nations, the IBRD acquires most of its capital by borrowing on international capital markets through bond issues. In 2011, it raised $29 billion USD in capital from bond issues made in 26 different currencies. The Bank offers a number of financial services and products, including flexible loans, grants, risk guarantees, financial derivatives, and catastrophic risk financing. It reported lending commitments of $26.7 billion made to 132 projects in 2011.
History
The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) and International Monetary Fund (IMF) were established by delegates at the Bretton Woods conference in
1944 and became operational in 1946.[4] The IBRD was established with the original mission of financing the reconstruction efforts of war-torn European nations following World War II, with goals shared by the later Marshall Plan. The Bank issued its inaugural loan of $250 million ($2.6 billion in 2012 dollars[5]) to France in 1947 to finance infrastructure projects. The institution also established its first field offices in Paris, France, Copenhagen, Denmark, and Prague in the former Czechoslovakia. Throughout the remainder of the 1940s and 1950s, the Bank financed projects seeking to dam rivers, generate electricity, and improve access to water and sanitation. It also invested in France, Belgium, and Luxembourg's steel industry. Following the reconstruction of Europe, the Bank's mandate has transitioned to eradicating poverty around the world. In 1960, the International Development Association (IDA) was established to serve as the Bank's concessional lending arm and provide low and no-cost finance and grants to the poorest of the developing countries as measured by gross national income per capita.
Governance
The IBRD is governed by the World Bank's Board of Governors which meets annually and consists of one governor per member country (most often the country's finance minister or treasury secretary). The Board of Governors delegates most of its authority over daily matters such as lending and operations to the Board of Directors. The Board of Directors consists of 25 executive directors and is chaired by the President of the World Bank Group. The executive directors collectively represent all 187 member states of the World Bank. The president oversees the IBRD's overall direction and daily operations. As of July 2012, Jim Yong Kim serves as the President of the World Bank Group. The Bank and IDA operate with a staff of approximately 10,000 employees.
Membership
The IBRD is owned by 188 member countries which pay in capital, vote on matters of policy, and approve all of its activities. Each member state is a shareholder and the percentage of ownership share is determined by the size of its economy and the amount of capital contributed to support the Bank's borrowing activities among international capital markets. High-income member nations together hold a share of 65.92%. As of 2011, the United States is the IBRD's single largest shareholder with a share of 16.03%. Japan and Germany hold shares of 9.59% and 4.39% respectively, while each of France and the United Kingdom hold a share of 4.21%. The United States possesses exclusively the power to veto changes to the structure of the Bank. The IBRD's share capital amounted to approximately $190 billion in 2011. Membership in the IBRD is available only to countries who are members of the International Monetary Fund.
Funding
Although members contribute capital to the IBRD, the Bank acquires funds primarily by borrowing on international capital markets by issuing bonds. The Bank raised $29 billion USD worth of capital in 2011 from bonds issued in 26 different currencies. The IBRD has enjoyed a triple-A credit rating since 1959, which allows it to borrow capital at favorable rates. It offers benchmark and global benchmark bonds, bonds denominated in non-hard currencies, structured notes with custom-tailored yields and currencies, discount
notes in U.S. dollars and eurodollars. In 2011, the IBRD sought an additional $86 billion USD (of which $5.1 billion would be paid-in capital) as part of a general capital increase to increase its lending capacity to middle-income countries.
Services
The IBRD provides financial services as well as strategic coordination and information services to its borrowing member countries. The Bank only finances sovereign governments directly, or projects backed by sovereign governments. The World Bank Treasury is the division of the IBRD that manages the Bank's debt portfolio of over $100 billion and financial derivatives transactions of $20 billion. The Bank offers flexible loans with maturities as long as 30 years and customtailored repayment scheduling. The IBRD also offers loans in local currencies. Through a joint effort between the IBRD and the International Finance Corporation, the Bank offers financing to subnational entities either with or without sovereign guarantees. For borrowers needing quick financing for an unexpected change, the IBRD operates a Deferred Drawdown Option which serves as a line of credit with features similar to the Bank's flexible loan program. Among the World Bank Group's credit enhancement and guarantee products, the IBRD offers policybased guarantees to cover countries' sovereign default risk, partial credit guarantees to cover the credit risk of a sovereign government or subnational entity, and partial risk guarantees to private projects to cover a government's failure to meet its contractual obligations. The IBRD's Enclave Partial Risk Guarantee to cover private projects in member countries of the IDA against sovereign governments' failures to fulfill contractual obligations. The Bank provides an array of financial risk management products including foreign exchange swaps, currency conversions, interest rate swaps, interest rate caps and floors, and commodity swaps. To help borrowers protect against catastrophes and other special risks, the bank offers a Catastrophe Deferred Drawdown Option to provide financing after a natural disaster or declared state of emergency. It also issues catastrophe bonds which transfer catastrophic risks from borrowers to investors.
D.C., United States. It was established in 1960 to complement the existing International Bank for Reconstruction and Development by lending to developing countries which suffer from the lowest gross national income, from troubled creditworthiness, or from the lowest per capita income. Together, the International Development Association and International Bank for Reconstruction and Development are collectively known as the World Bank, as they follow the same executive leadership and operate with the same staff. The association shares the World Bank's mission of reducing poverty and aims to provide affordable development financing to countries whose credit risk is so prohibitive that they cannot afford to borrow commercially or from the Bank's other programs. The IDA's stated aim is to assist the poorest nations in growing more quickly, equitably, and sustainably to reduce poverty. The IDA is the single largest provider of funds to economic and human development projects in the world's poorest nations.
Governance
The IDA is governed by the World Bank's Board of Governors which meets annually and consists of one governor per member country (most often the country's finance minister or treasury secretary). The Board of Governors delegates most of its authority over daily matters such as lending and operations to the Board of Directors. The Board of Directors consists of 25 executive directors and is chaired by the President of the World Bank Group. The executive directors collectively represent all 187 member states of the World Bank, although decisions regarding IDA matters concern only the IDA's 172 member states. The president oversees the IDA's overall direction and daily operations. As of July 2012, Jim Yong Kim serves as the President of the World Bank Group. The association and IBRD operate with a staff of approximately 10,000 employees.
Membership
The IDA has 172 member countries which pay contributions every three years as replenishments of its capital.[1] The IDA lends to 81 borrowing countries, nearly half of which are in Africa. Membership in the IDA is available only to countries who are members of the World Bank, particularly the IBRD. Throughout its lifetime, 36 borrowing countries have graduated from the association, although a number of these countries have relapsed as borrowers after not sustaining their graduate status. To be eligible for support from the IDA, countries are assessed by their poverty and their lack of creditworthiness for commercial and IBRD borrowing. The association assesses countries based on their per capita income, lack of access to private capital markets, and policy performance in implementing pro-growth and anti-poverty economic or social reforms.
Group and is headquartered in Washington, D.C., United States. It was established in 1956 as the private sector arm of the World Bank Group to advance economic development by investing in strictly for-profit and commercial projects which reduce poverty and promote development. The IFC's stated aim is to create opportunities for people to escape poverty and achieve better living standards by mobilizing financial resources for private enterprise, promoting accessible and competitive markets, supporting businesses and other private sector entities, and creating jobs and delivering necessary services to those who are poverty-stricken or otherwise vulnerable.
Formation Type Legal status Purpose/focus Headquarters Membership Executive Vice President & CEO Parent organization Website
1956 Development finance institution Treaty Private sector development, Poverty reduction Washington, D.C. 184 countries Jin-Yong Cai World Bank Group ifc.org
The IFC is owned and governed by its member countries, but has its own executive leadership and staff which conduct its normal business operations. It is a corporation whose shareholders are member governments which provide paid-in capital and which have the right to vote on its matters. Originally more financially integrated with the World Bank Group, the IFC was established separately and eventually became authorized to operate as a financially autonomous entity and make independent investment decisions. It offers an array of debt and equity financing services and helps companies face their risk exposures, while refraining from participating in a management capacity. The corporation also offers advice to companies on making decisions, evaluating their impact on the environment and society, and being responsible. It advises governments on building infrastructure and partnerships to further support private sector development.
The corporation is assessed by an independent evaluator each year. The IFC is in good financial standing and received the highest ratings from two independent credit rating agencies in 2010 and 2011.
History
Robert L. Garner joined the World Bank in 1947 as a senior executive and expressed his view that private business could play an important role in international development. In 1950, Garner and his colleagues proposed establishing a new institution for the purpose of making private investments in the developing countries served by the Bank. The U.S. government encouraged the idea of an international corporation working in tandem with the World Bank to invest in private enterprises without accepting guarantees from governments, without managing those enterprises, and by collaborating with third party investors. When describing the IFC in 1955, World Bank President Eugene R. Black said that the IFC would only invest in private firms, rather than make loans to governments, and it would not manage the projects in which it invests. In 1956 the International Finance Corporation became operational under the leadership of Garner. It initially had 12 staff members and $100 million ($844.9 million in 2012 dollars) in capital. The corporation made its inaugural investment in 1957 by making a $2 million ($16.4 million in 2012 dollars) loan to a Brazil-based affiliate of Siemens & Halske (now Siemens AG). In 1965, the corporation channeled $600,000 ($4.4 million in 2012 dollars) in capital from Deutsche Bank and other investors to Champion Cellulose, marking the launch of the IFC's Syndicated Loan Program. In the early 1970s, the IFC set up its own Capital Markets Department to bolster the stock markets, banks, and other financial intermediaries in developing nations and also offered its first advisory services to Indonesia. Afterward, the corporation formalized its advisory services. In the years that followed up until 1977, the IFC decentralized its operations by establishing field offices in its member states. As of 2008, only half of its staff operates from its Washington, D.C. headquarters. In 1984, the IFC became financially autonomous and was authorized to issue its own bond instruments across international capital markets, thereby ending its reliance on World Bank financial support.
Governance
The IFC is governed by its Board of Governors which meets annually and consists of one governor per member country (most often the country's finance minister or treasury secretary). Each member typically appoints one governor and also one alternate. Although corporate authority rests with the Board of Governors, the governors delegate most of their corporate powers and their authority over daily matters such as lending and business operations to the Board of Directors. The IFC's Board of Directors consists of 25 executive directors which meet regularly and work at the IFC's headquarters, and is chaired by the President of the World Bank Group.
The executive directors collectively represent all 184 member countries. When the IFC's Board of Directors votes on matters brought before it, each executive director's vote is weighted according to the total share capital of the member countries represented by that director. The IFC's Executive Vice President and CEO oversees its overall direction and daily operations. As of October 2012, Jin-Yong Cai serves as the Executive Vice President and CEO of the IFC.[16] President of the World Bank Group Jim Yong Kim appointed Jin-Yong Cai to serve as the new Executive Vice President and CEO of the IFC. Cai is a Chinese citizen who formerly served as a managing director for Goldman Sachs and has over 20 years of financial sector experience. Although the IFC coordinates its activities in many areas with the other World Bank Group institutions, it generally operates independently as it is a separate entity with legal and financial autonomy, established by its own Articles of Agreement. The corporation operates with a staff of over 3,400 employees, of which half are stationed in field offices across its member nations.
Membership
The IFC is owned by its 184 member governments which pay in capital, vote on matters of policy, and approve all of its investing activities. Each member country is a shareholder of the IFC, and the percentage of each member's ownership share is determined by the amount of capital it pays into the IFC. As of 2011, the United States is the IFC's single largest shareholder with a share of 24%. Japan holds a share of 6%, while each of Germany, France, and the United Kingdom hold 5%. The IFC's share capital amounted to approximately $2.4 billion as of 30 June 2011, of which 51% is controlled by the seven largest member governments of the OECD. Membership in the IFC is available only to countries who are members of the World Bank, particularly the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development.
Services
Investment services
The IFC's investment services consist of loans, equity, trade finance, syndicated loans, structured and securitized finance, client risk management services, treasury services, and liquidity management. In its fiscal year 2010, the IFC invested $12.7 billion in 528 projects across 103 countries. Of that total investment commitment, approximately 39% ($4.9 billion) was invested into 255 projects across 58 member nations of the World Bank's International Development Association (IDA). The IFC makes loans to businesses and private projects generally with maturities of seven to twelve years. It determines a suitable repayment schedule and grace period for each loan individually to meet borrowers' currency and cash flow requirements.
The IFC may provide longer-term loans or extend grace periods if a project is deemed to warrant it. Leasing companies and financial intermediaries may also receive loans from the IFC. Though loans have traditionally been denominated in hard currencies, the IFC has endeavored to structure loan products in local currencies Through its Global Trade Finance Program, the IFC guarantees trade payment obligations of more than 200 approved banks in over 80 countries to mitigate risk for international transactions. The Global Trade Finance Program provides guarantees to cover payment risks for emerging market banks regarding promissory notes, bills of exchange, letters of credit, bid and performance bonds, supplier credit for capital goods imports, and advance payments. The IFC operates a Syndicated Loan Program in an effort to mobilize capital for development goals. The program was created in 1957 and as of 2011 has channeled approximately $38 billion from over 550 financial institutions toward development projects in over 100 different emerging markets. Financial derivative products are made available to the IFC's clients strictly for hedging interest rate risk, exchange rate risk, and commodity risk exposure. It serves as an intermediary between emerging market businesses and international derivatives market makers to increase access to risk management instruments. The IFC fulfills a treasury role by borrowing international capital to fund lending activities. It is usually one of the first institutions to issue bonds or to do swaps in emerging markets denominated in those markets' local currencies.
Advisory services
In addition to its investment activities the IFC provides a range of advisory services to support corporate decisionmaking regarding business, environment, social impact, and sustainability. The IFC's corporate advice targets governance, managerial capacity, scalability, and corporate responsibility. It prioritizes the encouragement of reforms that improve the trade friendliness and ease of doing business in an effort to advise countries on fostering a suitable investment climate. It also offers advice to governments on infrastructure development and publicprivate partnerships. The IFC attempts to guide businesses toward more sustainable practices particularly with regards to having good governance, supporting women in business, and proactively combating climate change.
Political risk insurance, foreign direct investment Washington, D.C. 179 countries Keiko Honda World Bank Group miga.org
MIGA is owned and governed by its member states, but has its own executive leadership and staff which carry out its daily operations. Its shareholders are member governments which provide paid-in capital and have the right to vote on its matters. It insures longterm debt and equity investments as well as other assets and contracts with long-term periods. The agency is assessed by an independent evaluator each year. Its 2011 evaluation recommended that it utilize its recently expanded investing capacity and closely monitor projects' profitability to better understand their impacts on its financial performance. MIGA's total investments amounted to $1.1 billion in 2011. It issued $2.1 billion worth of new investment guarantees in 2011 and held $1.5 billion in total assets.
History
In September 1985, the Board of Governors of the World Bank endorsed the Convention establishing the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency. MIGA was established and became operational on April 12, 1988 under the leadership of then-Executive Vice President Yoshio Terasawa, becoming the fifth member institution of the World Bank Group. MIGA initially had $1 billion ($1.94 billion in 2012 dollars) in capital and 29 member states. All members of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) were eligible to become members of the agency. MIGA was established as an effort to complement existing sources of non-commercial risk insurance for investments in developing countries, and thereby improve investor confidence. The agency's mandate to be apolitical has been said to be an advantage over private and national risk insurance markets. By serving as a multilateral guarantor, the agency reduces the likelihood of confrontations among the investor's country and the host country.
Governance
MIGA is governed by its Council of Governors which represents its member countries. The Council of Governors holds corporate authority, but primarily delegates such powers to MIGA's Board of Directors. The Board of Directors consists of 25 directors and votes
on matters brought before MIGA. Each director's vote is weighted in accordance with the total share capital of the member nations that director represents. MIGA's board is stationed at its Washington, D.C. headquarters where it meets regularly and oversees the agency's activities. The agency's Executive Vice President directs its overall strategy and manages its daily operations. As of 15 July 2013, Keiko Hondai serves as Executive Vice President of MIGA.
Membership
MIGA is owned by its 179 member governments, consisting of 152 developing and 25 industrialized countries. The members are composed of 178 United Nations member states plus Kosovo. Membership in MIGA is available only to countries who are members of the World Bank, particularly the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development. As of 2013, the nine World Bank member states that are not MIGA members are Bhutan, Brunei, Burma, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, San Marino, Somalia, Tonga, and Tuvalu. (The UN states that are non-members of the World Bank, and thus MIGA, are Andorra, Cuba, Liechtenstein, Monaco, Nauru, and North Korea.) The Holy See and Palestine are also non-MIGA members.
Investment guarantees
MIGA offers insurance to cover five types of non-commercial risks: currency inconvertibility and transfer restriction; government expropriation; war, terrorism, and civil disturbance; breaches of contract; and the non-honoring of sovereign financial obligations. MIGA will cover investments such as equity, loans, shareholder loans, and shareholder loan guarantees. The agency may also insure investments such as management contracts, asset securitization, bonds, leasing activities, franchise agreements, and license agreements. The agency generally offers insurance coverage lasting up to 15 years with a possible five-year extension depending on a given project's nature and circumstances. When an event occurs that is protected by the insurance, MIGA can exercise the investor's rights against the host country through subrogation to recover expenses associated with covering the claim. However, the agency's convention does not require member governments to treat foreign investments in any special way. As a multilateral institution, MIGA is also in a position to attempt to sort out potential disputes before they ever turn into insurance claims. The agency's Small Investment Program aims to promote FDI into specifically small and medium enterprises. The program offers standard MIGA coverage types except it does not cover breaches of contract. Under the program, small and medium enterprises may take advantage of discounted insurance premiums and no application fees, which are not available to larger investors. To qualify an investment for the Small Investment Program, MIGA defines small and medium enterprise projects as having 300 or fewer employees, total assets not to exceed $15 million and annual revenues not to exceed $15 million.
MIGA limits the request amount for the investment guarantee to $10 million, and will guarantee only up to 10 years with a possible 5-year extension.
History
In the 1950s and 1960s, the Organization for European Economic Cooperation (now the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) had made several attempts to create a framework for protecting international investments, but its efforts revealed conflicting views on how to provide compensation for the expropriation of foreign direct investment. In 1961, then-General Counsel of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) Aron Broches developed the idea for a multilateral agreement on a process for resolving individual investment disputes on a case by case basis as opposed to imposing outcomes based on standards. Broches held conferences to consult legal experts from all parts of the world, including Europe, Africa, and Asia, to discuss and compose a preliminary agreement. The IBRD staff wrote an official draft of the agreement and consulted with legal representatives of the IBRD's Board of Directors to finalize the draft and have it approved. The Board of Directors approved the final draft of the agreement, titled Convention on the Settlement of Investment Disputes between States and Nationals of Other States, and the Bank president disseminated the convention to its member states for signature on March 18, 1965. Twenty states immediately ratified the convention. The convention, establishing the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes, entered into force on October 14, 1966.
Governance
The ICSID is governed by its Administrative Council which meets annually and elects the center's Secretary-General and Deputy Secretary-General, approves rules and regulations, conducts the center's case proceedings, and approves the center's budget and annual report. The council consists of one representative from each of the center's contracting member states and is chaired by the President of the World Bank Group, although the president may not vote. The ICSID's normal operations are carried out by its Secretariat which comprises 40 employees and is led by the Secretary-General of the ICSID. The Secretariat provides support to the Administrative Council in conducting the center's proceedings. It also manages the center's Panel of Conciliators and Panel of Arbitrators. Each contracting member state may appoint four persons to each panel. In addition to serving as the center's principal, the Secretary-General is responsible for legally representing the ICSID and serving as the registrar of its proceedings. As of 2012, Meg Kinnear serves as the center's Secretary-General.
Membership
The ICSID has 158 member states which have signed the center's convention, which includes 157 United Nations member states plus Kosovo. Of these member states, 149 are contracting member states which have deposited instruments of ratification.[8] The ICSID's former members are Bolivia, Ecuador, and Venezuela. All ICSID contracting member states, whether or not they are parties to a given dispute, are required by the ICSID Convention to recognize and enforce ICSID arbitral awards.
Activities
o The ICSID does not conduct arbitration or conciliation proceedings itself, but offers institutional and procedural support to conciliation commissions, tribunals, and other committees which conduct such matters. The center has two sets of rules that determine how cases will be initiated and conducted, either under the ICSID's Convention, Regulations and Rules or the ICSID's Additional Facility Rules. To be processed in accordance with the ICSID Convention, a legal dispute has to exist between one of the center's contracting member states and a national of another contracting member state. o The ICSID Secretariat may also administer dispute resolution proceedings under other treaties and regularly assists tribunals or disputing parties in arbitrations among investors and states under the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law's arbitration regulations. The center provides administrative and technical support for a number of international dispute resolution proceedings through alternative facilities such as the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague, Netherlands, the London Court of International Arbitration, and the International Chamber of Commerce in Paris, France. o The ICSID also conducts advisory activities and research and publishes Investment Laws of the World and of Investment Treaties. Since April 1986, the center has published a semi-annual law journal entitled ICSID Review: Foreign Investment Law Journal. o Although the ICSID's proceedings generally take place in Washington, D.C., parties may agree that proceedings be held at one of a number of possible alternative locations, including the Permanent Court of Arbitration, the Regional Arbitration Centres of the Asian-African Legal Consultative Committee in Cairo, in Kuala Lumpur, or in Lagos, the Australian Centre for International Commercial Arbitration in Melbourne, the Australian Commercial Disputes Centre in Sydney, the Singapore International Arbitration Centre, the Gulf Cooperation Council Commercial Arbitration Centre in Bahrain, the German Institution of Arbitration, the Maxwell Chambers in Singapore, the Hong Kong International Arbitration Centre, and the Centre for Arbitration and Conciliation at the Chamber of Commerce of Bogota.