The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) has taken another step towards solidifying its anti-corruption policies by voluntarily adopting the list of sanctioned firms and individuals under the Agreement for Mutual Enforcement of Debarment Decisions (AMEDD), effective March 1, 2017. This means close to a thousand entities that have been debarred by five other leading multilateral development banks are also now debarred by AIIB, as set out in the Bank’s Policy on Prohibited Practices .
Like the World Bank Group and other regional development banks, AIIB defines four practices it will not tolerate. These are ‘fraudulent’, ‘corrupt’, ‘collusive’ and ‘coercive’ practices. In addition to these practices, AIIB defines three further prohibited practices. These are ‘obstruction’, ‘theft’ and ‘misuse of resources’. Firms and individuals who engage in any of these practices can be sanctioned by AIIB. Sanctions include barring a firm or an individual, either permanently or for several years, from participating in AIIB projects. The lists can be viewed on the cross debarment website .
“Creating a culture that lives up to our core value to be ‘clean’ is crucial for AIIB because we are ultimately the stewards of taxpayers’ money from all of our members,” said Hamid Sharif, Director General, Compliance, Effectiveness and Integrity Unit at AIIB. “This is a responsibility we take very seriously and believe adopting the same list as AMEDD will help to ensure we only work with partners who will deliver corruption-free infrastructure projects that bring value for local communities in Asia.”
AIIB recognizes the considerable work done by other multilateral development banks and unilaterally adopts the list of sanctioned firms and individuals put out by the five banks that are parties to AMEDD , provided they also meet the additional criteria set out in AIIB’s Policy on Prohibited Practices . These banks are the African Development Bank , the Asian Development Bank , the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development , the Inter-American Development Bank , and the World Bank Group . AIIB is actively engaging with these banks in an effort to join them as a signatory to AMEDD.
AIIB is institutionally organized to deal with all allegations of corruption independently and fairly. AIIB’s Director General of Compliance, Effectiveness and Integrity Unit (CEIU) reports directly to its Board of Directors on a quarterly basis. As Mr. Sharif explains, “AIIB’s institutional arrangements creates increased accountability and transparency because I report directly to our Board of Directors as the head of the integrity unit. This creates an open channel that will improve the bank’s ability to react and deal with any suspicions of corruption or unethical behavior in our projects.”
From its inception, AIIB adopted the Policy on Prohibited Practices to define its approach to fighting corruption. As an integral part of its Lean, Clean and Green organizational principles, it insists on zero tolerance for corruption, and has put in place strong policies on governance, accountability, financials, procurement, and environmental and social frameworks. AIIB has also established Codes of Conduct for all its staff and Board of Directors to promote accountability, transparency and business ethics.
About AIIB
AIIB is a new multilateral financial institution founded to bring countries together to address the daunting infrastructure needs across Asia. Headquartered in Beijing, AIIB was established in 2015 by the original 57 signatories to the bank’s Articles of Agreement. Its mission is to improve economic and social development in Asia by investing in high quality, financially viable and environmentally friendly infrastructure projects.
