IFTI Watch

  • 1 July 2002

    EBRD Reviewing Information Disclosure Policy

    The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is preparing a new draft of their Public Information Policy (PIP) that will be presented to the EBRD Board for first review sometime in the Fall, Bank officials confirmed. "This is a process of EBRD staff listening to comment and criticism, identifying where improvements can be made, […]

  • 1 June 2002

    NGO Reveals What Documents Governments Could Release

    The Bank Information Center, a Washington-based NGO, is attempting to monitor compliance with the World Bank’s new disclosure policy. Under the new policy, individual governments now have more latitude to release documents. When such disclosure becomes an option, BIC spreads the news. It e-mails NGOs in a country if a document could be released at […]

  • 1 June 2002

    Angola Oil Revenues: A Hidden Report

    It doesn’t look as though the World Bank will be releasing a $2-million "diagnostic" study by the KPMG accounting firm about where Angolan oil revenues have gone. The Bank shouldered 30 percent of the cost of the report, but it says the study is an Angolan government document, which means that disclosure of the findings […]

  • 1 June 2002

    World Bank Begins Pilot Programs on Disclosure

    Some 20 countries are about to embark on pilot programs with the World Bank in which they will disclose and disseminate more information than they have in the past – that is, more than what Bank policy currently requires. The exact dimensions of this effort will become clearer once the Bank makes an official announcement […]

  • 1 June 2002

    EIB Expects No New Disclosure Policy Soon

    The European Investment Bank has been working on modifications to its information policy for about a year, with the EIB’s critics scratching their heads over when a revised policy will finally emerge. More than 30 European NGOs have charged that the EIB’s disclosure policy is “critically deficient,” and called for full, timely access to all […]

  • 11 May 2002

    New UN Secretary-General Discloses Personal Finances

    The new Secretary-General of the United Nations, Ban Ki-moon, has disclosed his personal financial statement, the first United Nations Secretary-General to do so. Ban’s statement was made public Jan. 26, and indicates that his net wealth is between $1,210,000 and $2,500,000. The range results from the construction of the disclosure form. For example, his apartment […]

ABOUT IFTI WATCH

In this column, Washington, D.C.-based journalist Toby J. McIntosh reports on the latest developments in information disclosure in International Financial and Trade Institutions (IFTI).
Contact: freeinfo@gwu.edu or
1-(703) 276-7748