After several postponements over the year 2007, the Bank of the South was formally created in Buenos Aires on December 9, 2007, when the presidents of the seven countries signed its founding charter. At that time, a 60-day deadline was established for the member countries to define the Bank's Articles of Incorporation. ...more »

Last weekend (3 to 6 May) the Annual Governors Meeting (AGM) of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) took place in Madrid. One of the main agenda items for this meeting was the “Strategy 2020” – which the ADB describes as the strategy for a “New Asia” for the upcoming years. NGOs and former ADB officials have condemned the strategy. ...more »

Despite the call of various civil society groups to stop its privatization policy, the Asian Development Bank will still push for more private sector participation in the Asia and the Pacific region following the release of its new long-term strategic framework (LTSF) from 2008-2020 during the Bank’s 41st Annual Governors’ Meeting in Madrid, Spain.

As the International Monetary Fund (IMF) continues to face escalating deficits and a crisis of credibility, almost a quarter of its 2,400 full-time staff in Washington, D.C. have voluntarily applied for resignations. An IMF information notice reported that the actual number of buyout requests was as high as 620, far in excess of the institution’s goal of laying off 380 staff.

The poor have been given a little more say in the IMF. The rich countries have so far had 60.57 percent of voting rights in the IMF. The approved reform reduces that to 57.93 percent. For many developing countries and NGOs this is still not enough, but it is the biggest single change in voting rights in favour of developing countries in the IMF, which was set up in 1946.