Bernard O’Donnell has been appointed as an external member of the Sanctions Panel of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), following a competitive selection process.
With over four decades of experience in anti-corruption and integrity-related investigations, O’Donnell most recently served as Head of Investigations and Inspector General (ad interim) of the European Investment Bank. Prior to that, he was Head of Investigations for the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in New York, where he played a key role in developing UNDP’s vendor review (sanctions) mechanism.
O’Donnell also served as the inaugural Head of Investigations at the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria in Geneva, where he developed the organization’s global investigative function. He is currently Vice President of the Institute for International Criminal Investigations, a nonprofit organization focused on training international investigators.
He holds a master’s degree in law from De Montfort University in the United Kingdom and succeeds Shoaib Suddle, who concluded his term as external member of the Sanctions Panel in May 2025.
AIIB’s Policy on Prohibited Practices establishes a two-tier sanctions process to enforce prohibitions that consists of a Sanctions Officer and a Sanctions Panel. The Sanctions Officer is responsible for the independent determination of appropriate sanctions against parties engaged in Prohibited Practices. These decisions may be appealed to the Sanctions Panel, which operates independently and whose decisions are final and non-appealable.
The Bank’s Sanctions Panel acts independently and does not answer to, or take instructions from the President, Management, Board of Directors, member representatives or any other entity or individual.
About AIIB
The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank is a multilateral development bank dedicated to financing “infrastructure for tomorrow,” with sustainability at its core. AIIB began operations in 2016, now has 110 approved members worldwide, is capitalized at USD100 billion, and is AAA-rated by major international credit rating agencies. AIIB collaborates with partners to mobilize capital and invest in infrastructure and other productive sectors that foster sustainable economic development and enhance regional connectivity.
