www.wolfowitzresign.com May 21, 2007

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Monday, April 23, 2007

Volcker Panel Finally Begins Work

Volcker Panel Update on April 23 2007

The Volcker Panel was established in February this year in response to a call from the World Bank's Board in August 2006 about the manner in which the Department of Institutional Integrity was conducting its investigations.

The Department of Institutional Integrity is headed by Ms. Suzane Rich Folsom. Email: sfolsom@worldbank.org telephone: 202-473-1700. See Terms of Reference below for the Volcker Panel and memo from Paul Wolfowitz to staff in February.

Mr. Volcker has been less than zealous in moving forward with his independent review and his independent panel members all appear to work for Ms. Palacio, the Bank's Chief Counsel.

To date we understand that no staff involved in the cases that caused the Board concern (India, Cambodia, Kenya, or Democratic Republic of Congo) have been interviewed by Mr. Volker's panel.

The Staff Association has apparently been asking to meet with Mr. Volker and his panel since the panel was formed.

We welcome Mr. Volker's update on his activities, although we find the timing curious.

- MEMO -


From: Chairman Paul Volcker
Volcker Panel Update
Date: April 23, 2007 - 15:40
Sponsor: Legal Department


I would like to update you on the work of the recently appointed independent Panel of experts that I am leading to review INT's roles, responsibilities and working relationships as part of the Bank's Governance and Anti-Corruption Strategy.

The composition of the Panel has now been finalized and we are commencing our work. Under our Terms of Reference, we will "review and evaluate the mandate and authorities, the policies, procedures, practices, independence, reporting lines, and oversight mechanisms related to INT."

In addition to myself, the Panel members include:

Mr. Gustavo Gaviria, (Email: ggaviria@worldbank.org, tel: 202-458-0092, currently listed in the World Bank directory as working for Ana Palacio); Mr. John Githongo, (Email: jgithongo@worldbank.org, currently listed in the World Bank directory as working for Ana Palacio); Ben W. Heineman; Mr. Walter Van Gerven, (currently listed in the World Bank directory as working for Ana Palacio); Sir John Vereker...

See comments for more

9 comments:

wolfowitzmustresign said...

Volcker Panel Update
Date: April 23, 2007 - 15:40
Sponsor: Legal Department


I would like to update you on the work of the recently appointed independent Panel of experts that I am leading to review INT's roles, responsibilities and working relationships as part of the Bank's Governance and Anti-Corruption Strategy.

The composition of the Panel has now been finalized and we are commencing our work. Under our Terms of Reference, we will "review and evaluate the mandate and authorities, the policies, procedures, practices, independence, reporting lines, and oversight mechanisms related to INT."

In addition to myself, the Panel members include:

Mr. Gustavo Gaviria, (Email ggaviria@worldbank.org , tel: 202-458-0092, currently listed in the World Bank directory as working for Ana Palacio) who has worked since 1974 in the coffee and finance industries in Colombia. Mr. Gaviria is third generation in the coffee industry of Colombia and is founder and President of Industrias Aliadas S.A. and founder and chairman of Coffeecol, Inc. Mr. Gaviria is founder and President of Vision de Valores S.A. Since 2004 he has served on the Board of Ecopetrol, the largest Colombian company, where he heads the Committee on Corporate Governance. From 1999 to 2004, he was a Senior Advisor in the Executive Director's office at the World Bank.

Mr. John Githongo, (Email: jgithongo@worldbank.org, currently listed in the World Bank directory as working for Ana Palacio), a former journalist who investigated fraud and bribery in his home country, Kenya. In 1999, he founded the Kenya chapter of Transparency International, and in 2003, President Kibaki appointed him Permanent Secretary of Governance and Ethics, a position from which he resigned in early 2005. He is currently a Senior Associate Member of St. Antony's College at Oxford University in the UK.

Ben W. Heineman, Jr., who is a Distinguished Senior Fellow at Harvard Law School and a Senior Fellow at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government, where he is teaching and writing in the area of governance. He spent much of his early career in private practice and in government in Washington, D.C., including as law clerk to Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart, and he now maintains an association with WilmerHale as Senior Counsel. From 1987 to 2005 he was Senior Vice President and General Counsel, and then Senior Vice President for Law & Public Affairs, for The General Electric Company where he dealt with matters directly relevant to maintaining high ethical standards in an international organization.

Mr. Walter Van Gerven, (currently listed in the World Bank directory as working for Ana Palacio) who is a distinguished EU legal author and law professor at Leuven (Belgium) and Tilburg (the Netherlands) Universities with visiting fellowships at, a. o., Chicago, Stanford, Michigan, Paris II, and King's College London. Between 1962 and 1967 he was an associate in the Brussels office of Cleary, Gottlieb, and a founding partner in 1970 of a leading Brussels law firm which was subsequently acquired by Linklaters. From 1982 to 1988, he served as the President of the Belgian Banking Commission; from 1988 to 1994 he was Advocate-General in the European Court of Justice; and in 1999 he served as one of five members of the Committee of Independent Experts investigating allegations regarding fraud, mismanagement and nepotism in the European Commission, and formulating recommendations resulting in various reforms.

Sir John Vereker, who is the Governor of Bermuda, an overseas territory of the United Kingdom. Briefly a staff member of the World Bank (from 1970 to 1972), he has spent most of his career in the UK government, including a three-year period in the Policy Unit of the Prime Minister's Office (from 1980 to 1983). In 1994, he became the Permanent Secretary of the UK's Overseas Development Administration and its successor the Department for International Development (DFID), a position that he held until becoming Governor in 2002.

The Panel will also be working with a few consultants experienced in both international investigations and the work of development institutions.

A series of meetings are underway with Executive Directors, senior Bank managers, and other interested parties. The Panel also wishes to meet with representatives of the Bank's Staff Association and others who can contribute to a greater evaluation of the issues raised by the Panel's Terms of Reference.

To make that process manageable, individuals working in the Bank Group that wish to communicate with the Panel and its staff should email IPVP@worldbank.org. Those interested should briefly outline their concerns, and if appropriate, indicate reasons for meeting personally with the Panel or its staff. Please limit such communications to one page, and provide a contact telephone number or e-mail address. The Panel is in the process of establishing an outside email account that will be available in the near future and will be notified to staff.

Alternatively, for those who would prefer an indirect approach, such requests may be channeled through the Staff Association or the Bank Group's Ombudsman, who, as appropriate, can communicate concerns to the Panel and its staff.

The Panel wishes to receive all requests for meeting no later than May 10, 2007. Depending on the volume of requests, it should be understood that meetings with the Panel may not be possible in all cases.

The Panel plans to provide a final report no later than September 15, 2007.


-Paul Volcker, Chairman

wolfowitzmustresign said...

Paul Volcker to head review of INT

Date: February 16, 2007 - 18:34
Sponsor: Office of the President

The Department of Institutional Integrity (INT) is a relatively new organization in the World Bank Group structure. Recent work to strengthen the World Bank Group's governance and anti-corruption strategy, along with several INT investigations and reports, led to the conclusion that it would be useful to update previous assessments and review INT's role, responsibilities and working relationships with the Bank Group's staff and external partners.

In this context, the Board of Executive Directors and I have agreed to convene an independent panel of experts to assess how INT can best contribute to the Bank Group's mission. While a challenging assignment, we agreed that a comprehensive review of INT's activities could provide guidance on striking the right balance between safeguarding the Bank Group from legal, fiduciary, and other risks while also ensuring that INT's work serves the interests of our staff and partners.

I am pleased to announce that Mr. Paul Volcker has agreed to lead this panel. Considered one of the most eminent Chairman in the history of the US Federal Reserve, Mr. Volcker is distinguished by his passion and deep commitment to public service. He is also known for his careful and effective leadership of the UN oil-for-food investigation, in which he demonstrated his capacity to manage a review involving a large, complex international organization with significant diplomatic sensitivities and the competing interests of multiple stakeholders. Discussions are underway to finalize the participation of the other members of the panel.

The panel will review and evaluate several aspects of INT's work, including its mandate, authorities, policies, procedures, practices, independence, reporting lines, and oversight mechanisms. The panel will consider how other similar investigative offices operate, with a view to ensuring that the Bank Group is maintaining the highest possible standards. It will also assess the Bank Group's implementation of recommendations from the previous three formal reviews of INT.

In the course of its work, the panel will engage with a broad range of the Bank Group's partners, including other multilateral institutions, governments, civil society organizations, and the Bank's staff and shareholders. We are asking the panel to provide a final report in July 2007. The terms of reference for the panel's work can be found at the attached link.

INT is a key contributor to our accountability and success, and I would like to thank the INT staff for welcoming this review, which continues the common effort of Management and the Board to seek ways to improve the Bank Group's performance.

-Paul Wolfowitz

Anonymous said...

I like your irony on timing. I sense the hand of Mr K Kellems. Make it seem that the world is "out to get Wolfowitz" because he's trying to tackle corruption. I hope the review looks into the reporting lines of INT. Surely there should be some independent accountability structure - else you have the corrupt reporting to the corrupt!

wolfowitzmustresign said...

Terms of Reference
Independent Panel
Review of the World Bank Group
Department of Institutional Integrity

Purpose and Scope

The World Bank Group's Department of Institutional Integrity (INT) plays an important role in the Bank's overall good governance and anti-corruption drive. The President and the Board of Directors have asked an independent panel of experts to carry out a comprehensive review of INT to assess how it can best contribute to the Bank's poverty reduction mission and to safeguard the institution from legal, fiduciary, and other risks.

The Panel will review and evaluate the mandate and authorities, the policies, procedures, practices, independence, reporting lines, and oversight mechanisms related to the World Bank Group's Department of Institutional Integrity (INT) The review will consider INT's work and relationships with all components of the Bank Group including IBRD, IDA, MIGA and IFC and other internal and external stakeholders.

The Panel also will assess and provide recommendations on the World Bank Group's implementation of recommendations from previous such reviews.

The Panel should provide findings and recommendations with a view to supporting effective, efficient, equitable, transparent and accountable standards for INT's operations, and, to update, as needed, INT's Terms of Reference as well as its Strategic Directions and Business Plan, as approved by the World Bank's Board of Executive Directors in July 2003.

In carrying out the review, the panel will take into consideration the standards and procedures of similar investigative bodies within the United Nations, the European Union, multilateral institutions, governments, private sector and other best practices, as well as any relevant international standards. The Panel also should evaluate INT's operations and activities in the context of the Bank's Governance and Anti-Corruption Strategy.

In conducting this review, the Panel should engage with a broad range of the Bank's partners, including other multilateral institutions, governments, civil society organizations and other bodies, and with the Bank's staff and shareholders (both borrowers and donors).

Mission

The Panel will assess and make recommendations regarding:

The mandate of INT (including assessing the changes that have taken place since its inception). In so doing, it should look at the roles INT has in setting policy, reviewing implementation, investigating complaints and imposing sanctions.
INT's goals and strategy, the management of its priorities and workload, its contribution to achieving the Bank Group's mission and its approach to measuring results and development impact;
The quality of its internal and external reviews and investigations , including the effectiveness and transparency of its consultation, collaboration and communication within the organization and with member governments and other external stakeholders as well as the timing, content and mechanisms for disclosure of information to member governments ;
The speed with which cases are referred to governments for criminal or civil prosecution and the quality of those referrals;
INT's approach to remedial measures and sanctions;
The Voluntary Disclosure Program; including arrangements for oversight and the processes for disclosure of information to member governments;
The timing and content of disclosure of information to Bank staff in country offices, senior management, affected governments (both borrower and donor), Executive Directors, Committees of the Board, with consideration given regarding the status of the investigation or Detailed Implementation Review and other stakeholders;
INT's procedures and protocols to provide due process to staff alleged to have engaged in misconduct, to assure communication with staff of their rights and obligations as well as INT's standards for initiaiting and conducting investigations;
The oversight mechanisms for INT, including the reporting relationship to the President, other members of senior management, the Audit Committee, and the Board of Directors, as well as the nature and frequency of this reporting and further options for strengthening oversight;
The appropriate role and responsibilities for INT in providing rules based, equitable operational advice to Bank management on project design and oversight, including incorporation of anti-corruption action plans in Bank projects;
The effectiveness of INT's experience in providing capacity building support, including lessons learned, to World Bank member governments and private sector clients and other stakeholders; and
INT's budget and staffing requirements, including the education and professional backgrounds, number of staff, the balance between managers, investigators, policy and other professional and administrative staff, their overall skills sets and diversity in nationality and gender.

The Panel may suggest any additional areas of inquiry which may emerge during its review.

Timeframe

The Panel periodically should report back progress with a view to providing a final report no later than 1 July 2007.

1.12.07

Anonymous said...

State dept spokesman says Riza didn't have a clearance or maybe did, but didn't need one. But all conditions were met 'as far as I know.' Ummm. Then he assured that it doesn't matter anyway now because she's at foundation for the future which really really really doesn't need a security clearance. (Unlike State?) Sounds to me like he's hiding something.

http://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/dpb/2007/apr/83393.htm

Anonymous said...

Off topic for this, but some Ghanaian and Kenyan NGOs have now joined calls for PW's resignation, citing his hypocrisy:

http://www.blackbritain.co.uk/news/details.aspx?i=2429&c=africa&h=Africans+accuse+World+Bank+of+hypocrisy+and+say+Wolfowitz+must+step+down

Anonymous said...

Questions about Ad Melkert's invovlement:

http://www.innercitypress.com/melkert041407.html

Anonymous said...

how can Volker do a "fair" job.......PDW, SRF, RC and KK have absolutely no ethical standards....imagine what would happen if this relationship were pointed out to INT in the context of an ordinary bank operation.... would they not investigate it as per INT's mandate! You only need to look at the recent INT report to see that this would, at a minimum, be viewed as a "perceived conflict of interest".

http://www.whistleblower.org/content/press_detail.cfm?press_id=804&keyword=

Anonymous said...

I'd like to point out that SRF was hired by Jim Wolfensohn, not by Paul Wolfowitz. it is INT's threatening of old entrenched, corrupt interests that make Bank staff afraid. it has nothing to do with INT's ethical standards. it is convenient but misguided to put SRF in the same camp as RC, KK and others.

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