Key Documents

Independent Panel Review of the World Bank Group Department of Institutional Integrity (INT)

September 13, 2007

An Independent Panel headed by former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker was appointed by the World Bank in early 2007 to review the work of the Bank’s Department of Institutional Integrity (INT).  The Panel considered INT’s work in the broader context of the Bank’s new strategy adopted earlier in 2007 to help borrowing countries develop effective governance and anticorruption programs.  The Panel stressed the key role that INT must play in the Bank’s anticorruption effort.  “Given its experience and expertise, INT also can and should contribute to the Bank’s efforts to detect and prevent corruption in its own operations and to assist borrowing countries in building anticorruption protection....”

2005~2006 Annual Integrity Report
February 6, 2007
This is the World Bank's second Integrity Report, and covers both fiscal years 2005 and 2006. The report was covers topics including internal and external investigations and sanctions, and progress in proactive policy initiatives such as the Voluntary Disclosure Program (VDP), and presents examples of both internal and external investigations.

International Financial Institutions Anti-Corruption Task Force: Uniform Framework for Preventing and Combating Fraud and Corruption, and International Financial Institutions Principles and Guidelines for Investigations
September 2006
This document, marking a milestone in sanctions reform for the International Financial Institutions, includes harmonized definitions of fraudulent and corrupt practices, guidelines for increased information sharing and cooperation in investigations, and common principles for investigations and due diligence procedure.

2004 Annual Integrity Report 
February 25, 2005
This is the World Bank's first annual Integrity Report.  It includes information about internal and external investigations, case load management, sanctions, whistleblower protections, policy developments and more.

Joint MDB Statement Regarding Anti-Corruption Efforts Related to MDB-financed Projects
December 4, 2004
Joint statement on the occasion of the signing of the UN Convention Against Corruption.

Reform of the World Bank's Sanctions Process
June 28, 2004
This report provides an overview of the Bank's sanctions process since its inception. It also sets forth recommendations, and seeks Board approval, for reforms to the sanctions process.

External Communications Strategy related to Investigations & Sanctioning of Fraud & Corruption in World Bank-Financed Projects
June 3, 2004
This communications strategy aims specifically to increase awareness, both within and outside the World Bank, of the role that the work of the Integrity Department and resulting Bank sanctions play in safeguarding Bank-financed projects and ensuring that Bank funds are used for their intended purposes.

Report Concerning the Debarment Process of the World Bank - by Richard Thornburgh
August 14, 2002
The report by former Under-Secretary General of the United Nations and Attorney General of the United States Richard Thornburgh,  "...is intended to provide an encapsulated view of the experience - and the possible future course - of the World Bank in attempting to identify and sanction, through the process of debarment, organizations and individuals believed to have engaged in fraudulent or corrupt activities in relation to Bank-financed and Bank-executed projects."