Posts Tagged ‘disclosure policy’
-
15 October 2010
World Bank Releases Few Summaries of Meetings
By Toby McIntosh The “summaries” of World Bank Executive Board meetings now being disclosed under the Bank’s new Access to Information policy are substantially shorter and less comprehensive than the summaries prepared before the Bank agreed to release them, according to a Freedominfo.org review. In addition, the Bank has not disclosed summaries for all the Board meetings […]
-
9 September 2010
Legal Impediments Seen to Accessing Government Data
Legal challenges face the burgeoning efforts to make government data more available, according to a draft report by Access Info Europe and the Open Knowledge Foundation. The 97-page report comprehensively surveys the accelerating “open data” movement and describes related weaknesses in existing right to know laws. Supporters of better access to information laws and activists on […]
-
3 September 2010
Lebanese CSOs React to Disclosure of Strategy
It’s still early days for the World Bank’s new policy of disclosing certain documents in advance of Executive Board meetings, so lessons about it are just trickling in. The policy gives interested parties a last chance to comment on upcoming decisions, but the window of opportunity is small, as some Lebanese civil society organizations learned […]
-
30 July 2010
GTI Urges AfDB to Consult on Disclosure Policy
The Global Transparency Initiative and leaders of several African groups have urged African Development Bank President Donald Kaberuka to conduct public consultations as it reviews its disclosure policy. The Bank has indicated recently that it intends to revamp the Bank’s 2005 disclosure policy, a commitment praised in the July 30 letter to Kaberuka. Less clear is how the […]
-
16 July 2010
New Regulation Requires More Disclosures by Chinese Officials
Top Chinese officials will be required to disclose more about their assets under a regulation that became effective July 11, according to Chinese media, but critics say the rules contain loopholes. “The regulation adds six more items to the list of declarable assets issued in 2006, bringing the total to 14,” reported the official Xinhua […]
-
16 July 2010
IFC Rewrite of Disclosure Policy Criticized
The International Finance Corporation’s proposed changes to its disclosure policy are inadequate, according to environmental and development policy groups. Their critiques were voiced recently during a consultation meeting with staff members at the IFC, the World Bank’s private sector lending branch, and are being repeated during other IFC-sponsored consultations now underway. The IFC is simultaneously […]
-
1 July 2010
AFDB Planning Disclosure Policy Review
The African Development Bank has included revision of its disclosure policy among the promised reforms as it seeks a large budgetary increase.
-
4 June 2010
ADB Proposes Revisions to Public Communications Policy
The Asian Development Bank June 4 issued proposed changes in its Public Communications Policy. Release of the “consultation draft” comes as the ADB commences a series of worldwide meetings. The first session will be June 15 in Canada, and the last is scheduled for August 2 in the Philippines. The ADB’s 12-country consultation schedule is posted online.
-
4 May 2010
IDB Speeds Toward Adoption of New Disclosure Policy
The Inter-American Development Bank has released a proposed disclosure policy and is on a fast track to approve it in mid-May. The unexpected speed, shortchanging plans for a public consultation period, was motivated by a desire to bolster its case for a capital increase. The Board of Governors in March set a number of conditions on […]
-
19 March 2010
IDB Launches Review of Disclosure Policy
The Inter-American Development Bank March 16 quietly announced a “comprehensive review” of its information disclosure policy. The Bank invited public comments on a 15-page “policy profile” that outlines a proposed new policy…
-
16 March 2010
New IMF Disclosure Policy Goes Into Effect
The International Monetary Fund’s slightly revised disclosure policy enters into effect March 17, with the hope that a few more governments will allow the public release of key Bank documents about their countries, but still with a proviso giving governments veto power. Although the new policy is not expected to allow significantly greater access to […]
-
16 March 2010
New EIB Disclosure Policy Found Wanting
The European Investment Bank Feb. 3 announced a disclosure policy, making limited movement toward the release of more documents. The new policy was greeted with criticism by a leading group that follows the Bank closely and critically. CEEBankwatch Network stressed that the EIB is continuing to shield intermediary financial institutions from disclosing what loans they make with EIB […]
-
12 March 2010
Civil Society Groups Seek More Disclosure by IFC
A consortium of civil society groups March 8 urged the IFC to be more responsive to environmental and social concerns, and also suggested a variety of disclosure policy reforms. These comments, signed by nearly 100 organizations from 38 countries, were submitted as the IFC conducts a review of the implementation and effectiveness of its Social and…
-
24 February 2010
CSOs Urge IDB Governors to Be More Transparent
In advance of a key March meeting of the Board of Governors for the Inter-American Development Bank, more than 100 civil society organizations have called for more transparency and other reforms. The calls for transparency begin with a demand that the IDB disclose its proposal for recapitalization, saying the lack of disclosure and consultation “implies a violation…
-
17 February 2010
ADB Commences Review of Public Communications Policy
The Asian Development Bank has invited public comment by April 15 on its current disclosure policy, kicking off a review process that will involve a series of in-country consultations before a new policy is approved by the end of the year. The consultation plan was announced by the ADB February 16. After the first round […]
-
14 January 2010
Inspection Panel Case Plants Seeds of Cultural Change at World Bank
A complaint brought by a Yemeni organization to the World Bank’s Inspection Panel has produced some positive and unexpected results: a much delayed translation of a key program document that had sparked the original complaint, and an ambitious action plan, drawn up by the Bank’s Middle East and North Africa (MENA) management, which aims to further […]
-
9 January 2010
IMF Barely Modifies Disclosure Policy
After an opaque review process, the International Monetary Fund January 8 announced modest changes to its disclosure policy, but retained the major impediment to disclosure, allowing governments to prevent release of documents pertaining to their countries. This power prevents the release of more than 10 percent of some of the most important documents about countries. […]
-
19 November 2009
Access Info Unveils Question to Brussels Report on Requesting EU Information
Brussels, Belgium — In April 2009, an internal guide from the EU Directorate General (DG) for Trade revealed that public officials were being given tips on how not to record information and how to avoid providing documents to the public. Access Info has launched a report on its follow-up investigations into the internal guides of 16 […]
-
4 November 2009
EIB Opens Second Round of Consultations on Transparency
The European Investment Bank has announced a second round of consultations on its Complaints Mechanism, Transparency, and Public Disclosure policies. The Bank is seeking comments by November 13 on new drafts and invited interested parties to discuss them at a meeting in Brussels on November 9. The Luxembourg-based organization aims to finish the consultation process […]
-
4 November 2009
GTI Praises, Criticizes World Bank Disclosure Proposal
The World Bank’s proposed disclosure policy falls well short of its potential, but it still will bring greater transparency to the Bank, according to the Global Transparency Initiative, an international nongovernmental organization. The GTI November 3 sent the Bank extensive new comments, including many recommendations to improve the policy, which the Bank’s Executive Board is scheduled […]