IFC—International Finance CorporationFounded in 1956, the IFC assists with private sector investments, primarily through mobilizing capital on international financial markets, and by providing technical assistance and advice to governments and businesses in developing countries. The IFC coordinates its activities in many areas with the other institutions in the World Bank Group: the World Bank president also serves as the IFC's president. Its current executive vice president is Lars Thunell. The IFC generally operates independently as it is legally and financially autonomous with its own Articles of Agreement, share capital, management and staff. The IFC has 3,100 staff; 181 members; and lends in 80 countries, with 40 per cent of its investments in the financial sector. In 2008 the IFC´s worldwide committed portfolio for its own account was $32.3 million and $7.5 million held for participants in loan syndications. read more background... Items 1 to 10 of 357Complaint against the IFC in MozambiqueThe Compliance Advisor/Ombudsman (CAO), the International Finance Corporation's (IFC) accountability mechanism, has transferred a complaint over an IFC-supported project in Mozambique to its compliance function, which will assess whether the project has breached the IFC's performance standards. read article... New World Bank infrastructure strategy Paving over development?A World Bank infrastructure strategy update, developed because of a G20 push for more infrastructure investment, reaffirms the Bank's commitment to large-scale projects and scaled up private finance through public-private partnerships (PPPs, see Update 77), despite questions about bloated costs and development impact. read article... The World Bank and extractives: a rich seam of controversyAs World Bank projects fail to reduce corruption in the mining sector in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), International Financial Corporation (IFC) investments in extractives are provoking complaints and protests around the world. read article... On a carbon market mission The World Bank at the Durban climate summitWhile steaming ahead with new carbon market initiatives, the World Bank attracted further criticism and suffered potential setbacks on agriculture and the Green Climate Fund (GCF) at the UN climate negotiations in Durban. read article... Transparency at the World Bank questionedThe information disclosure policies of the Bank has been criticised by a December report of the NGO network Global Transparency Initiative (GTI). read article... Harvesting controversy World Bank's agriculture projects under scrutinyWhile the Bank prepares to revise its agriculture strategy, its focus on market liberalisation is criticised, its own complaints bodies issue damning reports on agriculture projects in Peru and Papua New Guinea, and critics fault its gender focus. read article... IFC's private equity investments cause controversyThe increasing use of private equity (PE) firms as conduits for World Bank lending continues to stoke controversy. read article... IFIs admit failure to put jobs at the centreWhile the International Labour Organization (ILO) warns of social unrest coming from record unemployment, the IMF and World Bank are being criticised for hindering workers rights and not putting jobs at the centre of recovery. read article... Despite evidence, World Bank still promoting water privatisationBank-funded private water projects across the world are facing serious problems due to financial, socio-political and operational concerns, but recent trends show that more such projects are coming up in the name of innovative approaches. read article... Inside the institutions: country classificationsA state's relationship with the IFIs and the type of assistance it receives is determined by its country classification. Some crucial types of classifications are: the World Bank's operational lending categories; the Bank's analytical categories used in the World Development Report; the IMF's operational and analytical categories, the IFC's frontier market category; the Bank's fragile state category; and the distinctions used by the Bank and IMF in deciding on and reporting success in governance reforms. read article... |
Articles: 3365 Related itemsRecent briefings & reports
No fairy tale: Singrauli, India, still suffering years after World Bank coal investments 18 November 2011
The UK's role in the World Bank and IMF: Department for International Development and HM Treasury 18 July 2011
A faulty model?: What the Green Climate Fund can learn from the Climate Investment Funds 21 June 2011
The role of the World Bank in carbon markets 4 February 2011
Out of sight, out of mind?: IFC investment through banks, private equity firms and other financial intermediaries 22 November 2010
Submission to the International Development Committee of the UK parliament: inquiry into the World Bank 19 October 2010 Resourcesworldbankpresident.org 17 January Openness policies of the international financial institutions 7 January HLP report, MDB Action Plan, Bank strategy 2 January CAO audit Peru 2011 2 December Policy on the use of Offshore Financial Centers in World Bank Group private sector operations 15 November Escaping poverty or taxes? 2 October Report on Marlin mine 15 September Results and performance of the World Bank Group 2011 31 August Statement by Global Unions to the 2011 Annual Meetings of the IMF and World Bank Washington 23 August IFC access to information policy 8 August Newswire |
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