Press Release. First Ever to Focus Global Spotlight on the IMF Board. New Rules for Global Finance Coalition announces its plans to form a new High Level Panel to evaluate the Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund and to recommend changes to make the IMF’s Board a model for inter-governmental accountability. June 18, 2006.

Press Release

June 18, 2006

First Ever to Focus Global Spotlight on the IMF Board

New Rules for Global Finance Coalition announces its plans to form a new High Level Panel to evaluate the Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund and to recommend changes to make the IMF’s Board a model for inter-governmental accountability.

Part of the criticism of the IMF is that its current Board:

• Is not representative even of the current global distribution of wealth;
• Operates in secret, allegedly by consensus, but with numerous reports of heavy-handedness on the part of larger share-holders;
• Requires transparency in its client states, but does not adhere to its own criteria in its institutional performance;
• Is of questionable competence.

The New International Panel will be comprised of senior experts from around the world noted for their in-depth knowledge of the IMF and passion for accountability. The Panel will identify key problems that need to be changed in the Board, review proposals for change, and set out an effective and feasible program for Reform of the Board.

New Rules undertakes this project convinced that full Board Accountability will transform the institution into a more legitimate and effective instrument for equitable and environmentally sustainable poverty reduction. New Rules will receive technical assistance on criteria and standards of accountability from One WorldTrust, a non-profit organization that conducts research on the accountability of global organizations.

New Rules for Global Finance is a coalition of development, human rights, labor, environmental, and religious organizations and scholars dedicated to the reform of the global financial architecture in order to stabilize the world economy, reduce poverty and inequality, uphold fundamental rights, and protect the environment.

OneWorldTrust promotes education and research into the changes required within global organizations in order to achieve the eradication of poverty, injustice and war. It conducts research on practical ways to make global organizations more responsive to the people they affect, and on how the rule of law can be applied equally to all. It educates political leaders and opinion-formers about the findings of its research.

Contact information: Jo Marie Griesgraber, Ph.D., Executive Director, New Rules for Global Finance Coalition.

Phone: 202-277-9390 or Email Address: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it