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The Bank releases report on development effectiveness.
An evaluation of the Bank's efforts to measure their contributions to Latin America and the Caribbean .
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The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) has made considerable progress in transparency and accountability and to strengthen the development impact of investments in Latin America and the Caribbean, according to new edition of Panorama of Development Effectiveness 2010.
The report summarizes the actions carried out by the IDB in 2010 to measure and improve the contribution social, economic and environmental aspects of Bank work in the region. It accounts for the contribution to the development of several projects implemented in sectors such as agriculture and education and operations in Haiti , offering a unique opportunity to share important lessons learned from authorities and the general public.
"Our shareholders and the citizens of Latin America and the Caribbean expect no less. We have made clear progress but we are still in the beginning of a process. We are proud to share what we learn and hope that the findings of this report will help the Bank and the authorities of the region to define the policies that best help accelerate economic and social development of the region. "
also recognizes the efforts of the IDB in recent years to measure and document their direct contributions to development projects, but indicates that even more must be done. During the past three years Bank more than tripled the percentage of projects with evaluation components to determine their contribution to development, taking it from 8 percent in 2007 to 27 percent in 2010.
The report reviews what the Bank to assess their contribution to the development of five institutional priorities agreed last year by its Governing the Ninth Replenishment: social policy for equality and productivity; infrastructure for competitiveness and social welfare institutions for growth and welfare, competitive international integration at the regional and global, and environmental protection, and response to climate change and increased food security.
In the field of social policy equality and productivity , for example, the report analyzes the impact of a project supported by the IDB improve math and science in the Argentina. The analysis provides valuable information on methods and materials that yield results when teachers are deficient in content and teaching and pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds from the socioeconomic point of view.
In the field of institutions for growth and social welfare, the report looked at programs to increase savings among Latin American migrants in the United States . He found that the promotion of competition among money transfer companies or supply information to migrants on remittance services cheaper can help reduce transaction costs, allowing more money to send their families back home. It also indicates that support for financial institutions to develop financial products that give migrants more control over the use of remittances can increase savings.
The report also provides details of environmental assessments of projects launched the IDB including technology transfer programs to increase agricultural productivity in the rural Dominican Republic, projects sustainable tourism and conservation programs, among others.
The intended BIB 20% of the Multilateral Investment Fund to Microfinance. IDB and argue that regulation ASBA microfinance should encourage transparency and promote consumer protection.
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regulators and Latin America Caribbean countries should promote transparency, improve standards of consumer protection and prudential supervision on microfinance operations, according to a guide for regulation and proper supervision of microfinance operations published by the Inter-American Development Bank ( IDB) and the Association of Supervisors of Banks of the Americas (ASBA), with support from the Swiss Fund for Technical Cooperation.
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The guidelines recommend that MFIs disseminate accurate information about costs and other conditions credit contracts that customers have sufficient grounds for making decisions. It also recommends that supervisors carry out assessments of the conditions of contracts to prevent and, where applicable, punish abusive practices.
"reasonable regulation and supervision can promote proper transparency, improve customer service while preventing microfinance institutions take higher risks," said Julie T. Katzman, IDB Executive Vice President and Chief Interim Multilateral Investment Fund (MIF).
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"appropriate regulatory standards are essential to promote a strong and competitive microfinance sector," said Rudy V. Araujo, Executive Secretary of ASBA, "Latin America has vast experience with the regulation and it is very important to share this knowledge and lessons learned with other regions of the world."
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The report entitled "Guiding Principles for Effective Regulation and Supervision of Microfinance Operations " offers lessons drawn from good regulatory practices in the microfinance sector in Latin America and the Caribe, an industry that has grown rapidly over the past decade in the region, which rose from just 1.8 million customers in 2001 to 10.5 million in 2009.
The report suggests that the standards included in these guidelines also apply to credit institutions that operate unsupervised microfinance as a good practice to minimize risks. The report urges governments to promote efforts to establish a healthy environment and ethical practices that allow for access to quality financial services to all segments of the population.
The study was prepared between March 2008 and March 2010, by the working group microfinance ASBA, with the support of consultants who combined the expertise of regulators and supervisors of financial institutions and as executives of microfinance. MIF and ASBA, with support from Swiss Fund for Technical Cooperation Trust, commissioned the preparation of this report.
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IDB strengthens anti-corruption framework, expands capacity
to investigate and punish.
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new system begins April 1
Four external members incorporated into the new Sanctions Committee. Six firms and 13 individuals sanctioned in 2010.
March 23, 2011 - Press release
The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) announced today that beginning April 1 2011, all new cases of corruption will be investigated and punished under a new process that includes a Case Officer and key new committee that will include external members, among other changes.
The Bank has also modified its procurement to enable the Bank to carry out an agreement with other Multilateral Development Banks for mutual implementation of decisions of ineligibility for prohibited practices, adding another important deterrent against corruption.
The Office of Institutional Integrity (OII) continue to investigate allegations of prohibited practices in activities financed by the IDB Group and, under the new framework will deliver its findings to the Case Officer, which in turn decide whether a sanction against an individual or firm . The parties concerned may appeal to the Sanctions Committee.
cases currently in place continue to be processed under the previous framework.
The changes aim to simplify and strengthen the way in which the Bank investigates and punishes allegations of irregularities in IDB operations.
"The IDB Group can only succeed in its mission if it is grounded in integrity," said IDB President Luis Alberto Moreno . "These changes - focusing on the functions of various entities to monitor, investigate and punish - will improve our ability to ensure that activities financed by the Bank are free of fraud and corruption."
The Bank changed its definition of fraud and corruption by introducing the term "prohibited practices", which now include practices corrupt, fraudulent, coercive and obstructive.
New Case Officer is Juan Ronderos , who previously served as Vice Senior Researcher at the World Bank's Integrity.
New Sanctions Committee will now have seven members, four of whom are external members to the IDB.
Mr. Andres Rigo - A national of Spain, Mr. Rigo has a doctorate in international law at the University of Cambridge . Mr. Rigo was Vice President and Acting Legal Adviser of the World Bank. Courts often tops means in cases involving disputes with investors.
Ms. Josefa Sicard-Mirabal - Citizens of the Dominican Republic and the United States, Ms. Sicard-Mirabal has a Juris Doctor degree from the Pontificia Universidad Catolica Madre y Maestra in the Dominican Republic and has experience as a referee, judge and chief judge in the Dominican Republic.
Mr. John Detzner - A U.S. citizen, Mr. Detzner is a graduate of Harvard University with a Juris Doctor degree and has experience advising ampolia and trade policy regulation in the context of corruption and sanctions systems as it relates to the control of foreign assets.
Mr. Alejandro Garro- A national argentinoe, Mr. Garrett is a graduate of Columbia University (JSD), Louisiana State University Law School (LLM) and the Universidad Nacional de La Plata (Juris Doctor .) An adjunct professor at Columbia University, Mr. Garrett has advised the World Bank, the Organization of the United Nations and USAID.
The three IDB staff comprising the Sanctions Committee are Mr. Rafael de la Cruz, Ms. Lori Kerr and Ms. Susan Sitja. Mr. de la Cruz will head the committee. The Secretary of the Sanctions Committee is Mr. Bernardo Weaver Nuñez.
The new procedures are part of the action plan arising from the recommendations contained in a Report on the Framework Corruption Inter-American Development Bank .
OII Annual Report
The new procedures come at a time when the IDB Group is accelerating its research. The Office of Institutional Integrity completed 154 investigations in 2010 involving prohibited practices. As a result of investigations OII, the Sanctions Committee issued sanctions against six companies and 13 individuals, and earned 17 letters of reprimand, according to the Annual Report 2010 of the OII, released on the day of today.
The Bank sanctions firms and individuals who participated in prohibited practices, including fraud and corruption, to disable them to participate in Bank-financed projects, among other sanctions. The list of sanctioned individuals and companies is posted on the IDB website.
mutual Disqualification penalties
The Bank also revised its policies to the Acquisition for the Procurement of Goods and Services, the Selection and Employment of Consultants, and Corporate Procurement.
The changes allow the Bank to implement the Mutual Recognition Agreement Compliance Disable Decisions on 9 April 2010 , signed with the Group of African Development Bank, ADB Development, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and the World Bank Group.
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