US & UN documents on the World Bank: :: Bretton Woods Agreements Act :: International Organizations Immunities Act :: Lugar Amendment :: UN Convention on the privileges & immunities of the specialized agencies :: Agreement between the UN and the IBRD
The World Bank provides access to General Information through its "About Us" webpage. Links to some information (Articles of Agreement, membership, etc.) may be found on the Law Resource Center webpage.
Q.
What date did the term "World Bank" come into use ?
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Answer provided by Legal Vice Presidency Counsel.
1. In a short monograph of 1986 (in the series Que sais-je?), Henri Bretaudeau, a former member of the Bank's Paris office, wrote on page 11 that, while the origins of the expression "World Bank" are uncertain, the "Anglo-Saxon press" seems to be responsible for its introduction, on account of its brevity. He added that "World Bank" was first used in a Bank's official publication in the Annual Report published in 1955.
2. In footnote 3 on page 3 of a 1964 unpublished thesis available in the Bank Law Library, Takayoshi Suefuji remarked that the origins of the expression "World Bank" can be traced farther back to President Truman's message of September 23, 1946, to the Chairman of the Bank's and IMF's Boards of Governors. Upon a cursory review of the proceedings and related documents of the first annual meeting of the Board of Governors (September 27-October 3, 1946), I noted that the expression "World Bank" was, on that occasion, not only used by President Truman twice in his four-paragraph message, but was also used in the opening address by John W. Snyder, US Secretary of the Treasury and Chairman of the Boards of Governors and in the statement by Fiorello H. LaGuardia, Director General of the UN Relief and Rehabilitation Administration and observer at the first annual meeting. As no other participant used the expression at the first annual meeting (if my reading was accurate), one might infer (subject of course to additional research) that, at its origins, the expression was especially dear to Americans.
3. That the use of the expression was introduced very early on after Bretton Woods finds indirect confirmation on page 22 of Jochen Kraske's Bankers with a Mission, where it is written that, at the time the US Secretary of State offered Meyer the presidency, IBRD was "already known as the World Bank". Earlier in his book (on page 1), Kraske had remarked that "World Bank" was "a nickname that originally reflected aspirations more than accomplishments".
4. The term "world bank" was used in reference to IBRD in an article in the Economist on July 22, 1944, in a report on the Bretton Woods Conference. The first meeting of the Boards of Governors of IBRD and the IMF, which was held in Savannah, Georgia in March 1946, was officially called the "World Fund and Bank Inaugural Meeting," and several news accounts of this conference, including one in the Washington Post, used the term "world bank". (A guide to the World Bank (2003) -- Box 2.2, page 11)
Q.
Where is the World Bank incorporated? Where are its headquarters ?
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Answer provided by Legal Department Counsel.
The World Bank is an international organization created under its "Articles of Agreement" (equivalent to a treaty). The Bank is not incorporated nor organized under the laws of any particular jurisdiction.
The World Bank maintains its headquarters in Washington, D.C., USA, in keeping with the provisions of the "Articles of Agreement". Other agreements were also entered to give effect to the provisions, including the "Bretton Woods Agreement Act" and the "International Organizations Immunities Act".
Q.
US & UN documents on the World Bank: Bretton Woods Agreements Act International Organizations Immunities Act Lugar Amendment UN Convention on the privileges & immunities of the specialized agencies Agreement between the UN and the IBRD
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Answer provided by Law Resource Center staff.
For a list on international organizations recognized by the US see 22 USC 288.
Bretton Woods Agreements Act
Delegates from 44 countries met in July 1944 in Bretton Woods, New Hampshire, to develop a means of economic coordination between states and to address the reconstruction of Europe after WWII. The planners at Bretton Woods established the IBRD and the IMF. After ratification of the Articles of Agreement by a sufficient number of states, the agencies became operational in 1946.
U.S. : The ratification instrument of the United States is Bretton Woods Agreement Act, which was passed on July 31, 1945. The Act is cited in the following ways:P.L. 79-171, 59 STAT 512, or 22 USC sec. 286
The text of the P.L. 79-171 as originally passed in 1945 is available through HeinOnline and LexisNexis. Use the U.S. Statutes at Large library in both cases.
The codified version, with the amendments passed since 1945, is available through the following resources: LexisNexis - US Code Service library GPO Access - use the browse feature to check for T. 22, Ch. 7, Subchapter 15, sec 286 Cornell University - use the Table of contents feature to browse for T. 22, Ch. 7, Subchapter 15, sec.286.
International Organizations Immunities Act
This US Act passed in December 1945, extends priviliges and immunities to international organizations and its officers and employees. The Act is cited in the follwoign ways: P.L. 79-291, 59 STAT 669.
The text of the P.L. 79-171 as originally passed in 1945 is available through HeinOnline and LexisNexis. Use the U.S. Statutes at Large library in both cases.
Lugar Amendment
The “Lugar Amendment” was part of the 2006 US Appropriations legislation entitled “Foreign Operations, Export Financing, and Related Programs Appropriations Act, 2006" (H.R. 3057, P.L. 109-102, 119 STAT 2241). The amendment included "promotion of policy goals" and was directed to provide anti-corruption measures for development banks. Within the Act: Sec. 599B. Title XV of the International Financial Institutions Act (22 U.S.C. 262o et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following: ``SEC. 1505. PROMOTION OF POLICY GOALS (22 USC 262o-4)
The text of the P.L. 109-102 is available through HeinOnline and LexisNexis. Use the U.S. Statutes at Large library in both cases. On the internet, the text may be found in the Library of Congress Thomas Site.
UN Convention on the privileges & immunities of the specialized agencies
The World Bank and Bank staff have certain privileges and immunities. These privileges and immunities protect the Bank as an entity from most claims of liability. Similarly, Bank staff receive privileges and immunities that protect staff from liability for any duties performed in their official capacity.
How many times have the Articles of Agreement been amended ?
A.
Announced April 25, 2010,the Development Committe of the World Bank and IMF Boards of Governors endorsed a shift in voting power for developing countries.
Previously, the 2000 publication, World Bank in a changing World (V. 3 p. 4), by Ibrahim F.I. Shihata (former General Counsel), the Articles of Agreement of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) had been amended only twice since their entry into force in 1946. The first amendment introduced in 1965 authorized the Bank to lend, within certain limits, to the International Finance Corporation (IFC) (see US Public Law 89-126 or 79 Stat 519). The second amendment, introduced in 1989, was to make further amendments more difficult by requiring approval of members having 85 percent, and not, as previously stipulated, 80 percent, of the total voting power (see US Public Law 100-202 or 101 Stat 1329-134). The constituent agreement of the IFC, which entered into force in 1956, was amended twice, in 1961 and 1965 (the latter amendment to allow it to borrow from the Bank) . Agreements establishing the three other organizations in the Group, the International Development Association (IDA), the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) and the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA) have not been subject to any amendment since their entry into force, in 1960, 1966 and 1988,respectively.
Q.
How many Executive Directors does the Bank have? Where can I find more information on the EDs?
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Answer provided by Law Resource Center staff.
The Articles of Agreement have the original number of EDs when the Bank was established. There is no requirement to amend the Articles to increase the number of elected EDs.
IBRD Articles of Agreement SECTION 4. Executive Directors (a) The Executive Directors shall be responsible for the conduct of the general operations of the Bank, and for this purpose, shall exercise all the powers delegated to them by the Board of Governors. (b) There shall be twelve Executive Directors, who need not be governors, and of whom: (i) five shall be appointed, one by each of the five members having the largest number of shares; (ii) seven shall be elected according to Schedule B by all the Governors other than those appointed by the five members referred to in (i) above. For the purpose of this paragraph, "members" means governments of countries whose names are set forth in Schedule A, whether they are original members or become members in accordance with Article 11, Section I (b). When governments of other countries become members, the Board of Governors may, by a four-fifths majority of the total voting power, increase the total number of directors by increasing the number of directors to be elected.
Bretton Woods Agreements Act
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