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A Factsheet - October 2008

A Guide To Committees, Groups, And Clubs

International Monetary and Financial Committee

The IMFC was established on September 30, 1999, by a resolution of the IMF Board of Governors, to replace the Interim Committee of the Board of Governors on the International Monetary System (usually known simply as the Interim Committee), which had been established in 1974. The change signified a strengthening of the role of the primary advisory committee of the Board of Governors. In addition, an explicit provision was introduced for preparatory meetings of representatives (deputies) of Committee members. As the Interim Committee did, the IMFC usually meets twice a year, in September or October before the Bank-Fund Annual Meetings and in March or April at what are referred to as the Spring Meetings.

The IMFC has the responsibility of advising, and reporting to, the Board of Governors on matters relating to the Board of Governors' functions in supervising the management and adaptation of the international monetary and financial system, reviewing developments in global liquidity and the transfer of resources to developing countries; considering proposals by the Executive Board to amend the Articles of Agreement; and dealing with disturbances that might threaten the system.

The IMFC has 24 members who are governors of the Fund, ministers, or others of comparable rank. The membership reflects the composition of the IMF's Executive Board: each member country that appoints, and each group of member countries that elects, an Executive Director appoints a member of the IMFC. The group is currently chaired by Youssef Boutros-Ghali, the Minister of Finance of Egypt. He was selected to head the Committee in October 2008 (see press release). A number of international institutions, including the World Bank, participate as observers in the IMFC's meetings.

Development Committee

The Joint Ministerial Committee of the Boards of Governors of the Bank and Fund on the Transfer of Real Resources to Developing Countries, better known as the Development Committee, was established in October 1974 to advise the Boards of Governors of the IMF and World Bank on critical development issues and on the financial resources required to promote economic development in developing countries. Over the years, the Committee has interpreted its mandate to include trade and global environmental issues in addition to traditional development matters. The Committee (like the IMFC) usually meets twice a year.

The Development Committee has 24 members (usually ministers of finance or development) who together represent the full membership of the IMF and World Bank. Each is appointed for periods of two years by one of the countries or groups of countries that designates a member to the World Bank's or the IMF's Executive Board. In addition, there is a chairman who at present is Mr. Agustín Carstens, Mexico's Secretary of Finance and Public Credit.

Financial Stability Forum

In October 1998, the G-7 Finance Ministers commissioned a report by Mr. Hans Tietmeyer, then President of the German Bundesbank, to develop recommendations for enhancing cooperation in the area of financial market supervision and surveillance among national and international supervisory bodies and international financial institutions, so as to promote increased stability in the international financial system. The G-7 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors endorsed the report in February 1999, including its recommendation to establish a Financial Stability Forum (FSF). The objectives of the FSF include improvements in the functioning of financial markets, and the reduction of systemic risk through enhanced information exchange and international cooperation among the authorities responsible for maintaining financial stability. The FSF first met on April 14, 1999, at IMF headquarters, and has since then met semi-annually. The FSF was made an observer of the IMFC in September 1999.

Mr. Mario Draghi, Governor of the Banca d'Italia, chairs the FSF in his personal capacity. It has 42 members, consisting of 25 senior representatives of national authorities responsible for financial stability in 11 significant international financial centers (in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Singapore, the United Kingdom, and the United States); six senior representatives of four international financial institutions (Bank for International Settlements, IMF, Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, and the World Bank); seven senior representatives of three international regulatory and supervisory bodies (Basel Committee on Banking Supervision, International Organization of Securities Commissions, and International Association of Insurance Supervisors); a representative each of two committees of central bank experts (Committee on the Global Financial System and Committee on Payment and Settlement Systems); a representative of the European Central Bank and the Chairman.

Group of 7

The Group of Seven (G-7) major industrial countries began to hold annual economic summits (meetings at the level of head of state or government) in 1975. At the level of finance minister and central bank governor, the G-7 superseded the G-5 as the main policy coordination group during 1986-1987, particularly following the Louvre Accord of February 1987, which was agreed by the G-5 plus Canada and subsequently endorsed by the G-7. Since 1987, the G-7 finance ministers and central bank governors have met at least semi-annually to monitor developments in the world economy and assess economic policies. The Managing Director of the IMF usually participates, by invitation, in the surveillance discussions of the G-7 finance ministers and central bank governors. Although Russia has joined the group, thereby forming the Group of Eight (see below), the G-7 continues to function as a forum for discussion of economic and financial issues among the major industrial countries.

Group of 8

The Group of 8 (G-8) was conceived when Russia first participated in part of the 1994 Naples Summit of the G-7. Again in 1997, Russia joined, for political discussions, the Denver Summit after the conclusion of the G-7 economic summit. At the 1998 Birmingham Summit, Russia joined as full participant, which marked the establishment of the Group of Eight (G-8). The G-8 convenes annual summits of the heads of state or government of the major industrial countries to discuss the major economic and political issues on their agenda.

Group of 10

The Group of Ten (G-10) refers to the group of countries that have agreed to participate in the General Arrangements to Borrow (GAB), a supplementary borrowing arrangement that can be invoked if the IMF's resources are estimated to be below member's needs. The GAB was established in 1962, when the governments of eight IMF members-Belgium, Canada, France, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, and the United States-and the central banks of two others, Germany and Sweden, agreed to make resources available to the IMF for drawings by participants, and, under certain circumstances, for drawings by nonparticipants. The GAB was strengthened in 1964 by the association of Switzerland, then a nonmember of the Fund, but the name of the G-10 remained the same. The following international organizations are official observers of the activities of the G-10: The Bank for International Settlements (BIS), European Commission, IMF, and OECD.

Group of 15

The Group of 15 (G-15) was established at the Ninth Non-Aligned Summit Meeting in Belgrade, Yugoslavia in September 1989. It is composed of countries from Latin America, Africa, and Asia with a common goal of enhanced growth and prosperity. The G-15 focuses on cooperation among developing countries in the areas of investment, trade, and technology. The membership of the G-15 has expanded to 17 countries, but the name has remained unchanged.

Group of 20

The Group of 20 (G-20), which superseded the Group of 33 (see below), was foreshadowed at the Cologne Summit of the G-7 in June 1999, but was formally established at the G-7 Finance Ministers' meeting on September 26, 1999. The inaugural meeting took place on December 15-16, 1999 in Berlin. The G-20 was formed as a new forum for cooperation and consultation on matters pertaining to the international financial system. It studies, reviews, and promotes discussion among key industrial and emerging market countries of policy issues pertaining to the promotion of international financial stability, and seeks to address issues that go beyond the responsibilities of any one organization.

The membership of the G-20 comprises the finance ministers and central bank governors of the G-7, 12 other key countries, and the European Union Presidency (if not a G-7 member); the European Central Bank; the Managing Director of the IMF; the Chairman of the IMFC; the President of the World Bank; and the Chairman of the Development Committee. Brazil is the 2008 chair of the G-20.

Group of 24

The Group of 24 (G-24), a chapter of the G-77, was established in 1971 to coordinate the positions of developing countries on international monetary and development finance issues and to ensure that their interests were adequately represented in negotiations on international monetary matters. The group, which is officially called the Intergovernmental Group of Twenty-Four on International Monetary Affairs and Development, is not an organ of the IMF, but the IMF provides secretariat services for the Group. Its meetings usually take place twice a year, prior to the IMFC and Development Committee meetings, to enable developing country members to discuss agenda items beforehand. Although membership in the G-24 is strictly limited to 24 countries, any member of the G-77 can join discussions. China has been a "special invitee" since the Gabon meetings of 1981. Mr. Amar Bhattacharya, a national of India, is the current chairman of the G-24.

Group of 30

Established in 1978, the Group of 30 (G-30) is a private, nonprofit, international body composed of senior persons from the private and public sectors, and academia. Its purpose is to deepen understanding of international economic and financial issues, to explore the international repercussions of policy decisions, and to examine policy options for key issues. Members meet in plenary sessions twice a year to discuss economic, financial and policy developments. Foundations, banks, corporations, central banks, and private individuals fund the G-30.

Group of 77

The Group of 77 (G-77) was established on June 15, 1964, by the "Joint Declaration of the Seventy-Seven Countries" issued at the end of the first session of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) in Geneva. It was formed to articulate and promote the collective economic interests of its members and to strengthen their joint negotiating capacity on all major international economic issues in the United Nations system. The membership of the G-77 has expanded to 131 member countries, but the original name has been retained because of its historical significance.

Clubs

London Club

The London Club is an informal group of commercial banks that join together to negotiate their claims against a sovereign debtor. The debtor initiates a process in which a London Club "Advisory Committee" is formed. The Committee is chaired by a leading financial firm and includes representatives from other exposed firms. Upon signing of a restructuring agreement, the Committee is dissolved.

Paris Club

The Paris Club is an informal group of official creditors, industrial countries in most cases, that seeks solutions for debtor nations facing payment difficulties. Paris Club creditors agree to reschedule debts due to them. Although the Paris Club has no legal basis, its members agree to a set of rules and principles designed to reach a coordinated agreement on debt rescheduling quickly and efficiently. This voluntary gathering dates back to 1956, when Argentina agreed to meet its public creditors in Paris. Since then, the Paris Club, and related ad hoc groups, has reached over 400 agreements covering 84 debtor countries. The Paris Club and the IMF have extensive contact, since the Paris Club normally requires countries to have an active Fund-supported program in order to qualify for a rescheduling agreement.

Archive

With the passage of time, a number of committees, groups and clubs have changed or have been superseded. Some of these are archived in this section.

Group of 5

The Group of Five (G-5) major industrial countries was established in the mid-1970s to coordinate the economic policies of France, Germany, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States. (These countries' currencies also constituted the SDR, an international reserve asset, created by the IMF in 1969 to supplement the existing official reserves of member countries). The G-5 was the main policy coordination group among the major industrial countries through the Plaza Agreement of September 1985. It was subsequently superseded by the Group of Seven (G-7).

Group of 22

The establishment on a temporary basis of the Group of 22 (referred to also as the "Willard Group") was announced by President Clinton and the other leaders of APEC countries at their meeting in Vancouver in November 1997, when they agreed to organize a gathering of finance ministers and central bank governors to advance the reform of the architecture of the global financial system. The Group of 22 comprised finance ministers and central bank governors from the G-7 industrial countries and 15 other countries (Argentina, Australia, Brazil, China, Hong Kong SAR, India, Indonesia, Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, Poland, Russia, Singapore, South Africa, and Thailand). It first met on April 16, 1998 in Washington, D.C. to examine issues related to the stability of the international financial system and effective functioning of global capital markets. It was superseded first by the Group of 33 (G-33) and then by the Group of 20 (G-20).

Group of 33

The Group of 33 superseded the Group of 22 in early 1999, and was itself superseded by the Group of 20 later in the year. Several seminars of the Group of 33 on the international financial architecture were convened at the initiative of the finance ministers and central bank governors of the G-7. The first meeting was hosted by Germany in Bonn on March 11, 1999.

The Group of 33 consisted of the finance ministers and central bank governors of Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, Côte d'Ivoire, Egypt, France, Germany, Hong Kong SAR, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, Morocco, the Netherlands, Poland, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, Turkey, the United Kingdom, and the United States.