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Legal Issues, Governance, and the IMF

Transparency
An Issues Brief
April 26, 2001



Governance of the IMF
Decision Making, Institutional Oversight,
Transparency, and Accountability

Leo Van Houtven
Pamphlet Series
No. 53

August 2002, International Monetary Fund
Español   Français



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Contents

Preface

List of Abbreviations

I.   Introduction
II.   Quotas and Voting Power in the IMF: A System That Calls
   for Greater Equity
  Role of Quotas and the Debate on the Quota Formula
  Further Work Toward Correcting Distortions and Enhancing
   Equity in Voting Power
III.   Checks and Balances in the Governance of the IMF
  The Executive Board
  The Managing Director
  The Staff
III.   Consensus Decision Making in a Cooperative Institution
  Size and Composition of the Board: A Global Roundtable
  General Approach to Consensus Building in the Board
  Consensus Building and Decision Making in Practice
  Protecting the Consensus Model and Safeguarding the
   Rights of Minority Shareholders in the IMF
V.   Enhancing Political Oversight of the International
   Monetary System
  The Interim Committee: A Mixed Leadership Record
  The International Monetary and Financial Committee:
   Toward More Effective Systemic Oversight?
  The Intergovernmental Group of 24: Cohesion
   Weakened by Diverging Interests of Members
  The Group of Five and the Group of Seven:
   Leading or Overbearing?
  Competing Interests: The United States, Western Europe,
   and Japan and the Asian Region
VI.   IMF Governance in a Crisis: Mexico, 1994–95
VII.   Implications for IMF Governance of the Financial
  Climate of the 1990s
  Distinctive Features of the Crises, 1997–99
  Strengthening the Financial Architecture
  Collaboration Between Civil Society and the IMF
  The Pursuit of IMF Transparency
  The Task of Refocusing the IMF
VIII.   An Appraisal of IMF Governance
Appendix I. Voting Majorities in the IMF
Appendix II. IMF Executive Directors and Voting Power
Bibliography