At a Glance · The World Bank Group’s Integrity Vice Presidency (INT) was established in 2001 as the independent arm of the Bank responsible for investigating allegations of fraud and corruption in Bank-financed projects, as well as allegations of possible staff misconduct. · As a result of these investigations, 458 firms, individuals, and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) have been debarred by the Bank for engaging in wrongdoing, including 45 in FY10. · Since December 2010, the World Bank has also cross-debarred 15 firms and individuals and continues to cooperate with other signatory multilateral development banks (MDBs) to advance the enforcement of the Cross-Debarment agreement signed in April 2010. · INT also assists in preventing corruption in Bank-financed operations, delivering fraud prevention and “red flag” detection training over the past year to over 1,200 professionals. · In September 2010 as part of its sanctions reform, the Bank adopted debarment with conditional release as its default sanction, and INT established the Office of Integrity Compliance and posted the Bank’s new Integrity Compliance Guidelines. The guidelines incorporate internationally recognized integrity standards and principles, and set a benchmark that all debarred firms need to reach before they may recommence work on Bank-financed projects. · In December 2010, the Bank launched the International Corruption Hunters Alliance, a network of 286 anti-corruption officials from 134 countries that aims to strengthen global anticorruption efforts through parallel investigations, facilitating access to investigative information and enforcement jurisdictions that can advance national-level prosecutions of wrongdoers. · The Integrity Vice Presidency is staffed by over 100 professionals, with backgrounds in prosecution, law enforcement, forensic accounting, and preventive services, among others. What We Do The work of the World Bank Group’s Integrity Vice Presidency is to prevent integrity risks, investigate allegations of fraud and corruption in Bank Group–financed activities (external investigations) as well as allegations of significant fraud and corruption involving staff (internal investigations). By combining investigation with an enhanced focus on prevention and detection of red flags in Bank-financed projects, INT promotes a proactive approach to managing fraud and corruption risks that impact development resources particularly in fragile contexts and high-risk sectors. Recent Highlights The Integrity Vice Presidency has ramped up its investigative, preventive and forensic resources to reduce the risk of fraud and corruption in Bank-financed projects while holding wrongdoers accountable for the waste of development funds. Below are some highlights of INT’s efforts in 2010/2011: · A Functional Cross-Debarment Agreement: Effective June 1, 2010, companies debarred by the Bank Group are eligible for sanctions by other participating MDBs. · Under the agreement, entities debarred by one multilateral development bank may be sanctioned for the same misconduct by the other participating development banks. This fiscal year, the Bank cross-debarred 16 entities. · More cases sent to sanctions, more entities debarred. The Bank has debarred 458 firms, individuals, and non-governmental organizations, preventing them from participating in future Bank-financed projects; 35 of those entities were debarred in this fiscal year. A recent reform to the sanctions process enables the Bank to temporarily suspend a company’s eligibility to bid in Bank-financed projects when INT has established that the company has engaged in at least one sanctionable practice, but INT continues to investigate other related allegations. · Restitution payment as part of the first negotiated resolution agreement with the Italian Company Lotti. In December 2010, the World Bank Group debarred C. Lotti and Associati Societa’ di Ingegneria S.p.A. (Lotti) in the wake of the company’s acknowledged misconduct in a World Bank investigation relating to a Bank-financed public works project in the water sector in Indonesia. Under the negotiated resolution agreement, Lotti has committed to pay an estimated S$350,000 in restitution to Indonesia. This is the first time the World Bank included restitution payment in resolving an investigation into fraud in one of its projects. This is also the first negotiated resolution agreement that is subject to cross-debarment by other MDBs. · New tools and advisory services continue to enhance prevention. Working with key partners across the World Bank Group, INT seeks to assist operational staff in building preventive measures into everyday Bank operations. As of January 2011, INT launched “Integrity Clinics” for operational staff to enhance knowledge and lessons learned from case and sector-specific forensic audits and investigations. In June 2011 INT released its first global report on the roads sector based on lessons derived from its investigations and building on the experiences of a number of developed and developing countries. The report highlights the most common fraud and corruption risks and best practices in mitigating those risks as experienced by developed and developing countries. This work focuses on addressing vulnerability of the roads sector, which is critical to advancing poverty reduction and economic growth in poor countries. · This fiscal year, the World Bank welcomed action on its referrals by the UKSerious Fraud Office and a Norwegian court in response to World Bank referrals relating to its investigations of misconduct by Macmillan Publishers and Norconsult Engineering Consultancy involving Bank-financed projects in Sudan and Tanzania. · The new Disclosure Policy of the World Bank Group’s Integrity Vice Presidency. As of February, 2011, INT’s first disclosure policy became effective following the approval of the World Bank Board of Directors. The new policy was developed by INT in conjunction with the World Bank’s Access to Information Policy, which calls for the development of separate disclosure regimes for certain groups, including INT. Why We Do It In fiscal 2011, the Bank Group committed (amount) billion in loans, grants, equity investments, and guarantees. With this support comes an even greater responsibility to ensure the highest accountability and transparency in the Bank Group’s provision of financial and technical resources. As a public institution, the World Bank Group needs to ensure that development resources reach their intended beneficiaries. Working with governments, the private sector, and other international institutions, the work of the Integrity Vice Presidency is critical to the Bank’s governance and anti-corruption efforts. Related Links www.worldbank.org/debar www.worldbank.org/integrity www.worldbank.org/sanctions www.worldbank.org/Governance To receive allegations, INT maintains a free fraud and corruption hotline that an independent third party operates: 1.800.831.0463 (inside the US) or 1.704.556.7046 (outside the US). Allegations can also be sent directly to INT via email: investigations_hotline@worldbank.org.
Contact: Dina Elnaggar, (202) 473-3245, Delnaggar@worldbank.org Updated March, 2012 | 
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