Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) President Jin Liqun has appointed three members to the Bank’s Sanctions Panel. Bernard O’Donnell has been appointed as the Chair of the Sanctions Panel, effective December 1, 2025. He succeeds Enery Quinones, whose term concluded in November 2025. O’Donnell was previously appointed as an external member of AIIB’s Sanctions Panel in June 2025 following a competitive selection process.
In addition, Norbert Seiler has been appointed as an external member of the Sanctions Panel, and Ian Nightingale has been appointed as the internal member of the Sanctions Panel, both effective December 1, 2025.
AIIB’s Policy on Prohibited Practices establishes a two-tier sanctions process that consists of the Sanctions Officer and the Sanctions Panel. The Sanctions Panel is responsible for reviewing Appeals submitted by Respondents that have been sanctioned by AIIB’s Sanctions Officer.
AIIB’s Sanctions Panel acts independently and do not answer to, or take instructions from the President, Management, the Board of Directors, representatives from AIIB Members or any other entity or individual. Decisions of the Sanctions Panel are final and cannot be appealed any further.
Bernard O’Donnell
With over four decades of experience in anticorruption and integrity-related investigations, Bernard O’Donnell most recently served as Head of Investigations and Inspector General (ad interim) of the European Investment Bank, where he led the development and implementation of the Exclusions Policy (sanctions). 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, developing the organization’s global investigative function. He is currently President of the Institute for International Criminal Investigations – a nonprofit organization focused on training international investigators.
O’Donnell holds a master’s degree in law from De Montfort University in the United Kingdom.
Norbert Seiler
Norbert Seiler serves as Chair of the Enforcement Appeals Committee of the Asian Development Bank, as a member of the Appeals Committee of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) Secretariat, and as a member of the Administrative Tribunal of the OPEC Fund for International Development.
Seiler is a senior legal executive with over 40 years of experience, including almost 30 years at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), where he advised on the development and implementation of policies safeguarding the integrity of operations and procurement processes. He also chaired both the Enforcement Committee and the Procurement Complaints Committee. Additionally, he provided legal advice on EBRD’s governance arrangements, loans, equity investments, and treasury operations.
Seiler holds a Doctor Juris and Magister Juris from the University of Vienna and a Master of Comparative Jurisprudence from the School of Law, New York University.
Ian Nightingale
Ian Nightingale has served as Senior Procurement Adviser to AIIB since 2015, during which time he developed AIIB’s Procurement Policy, approved at the Bank’s inaugural Board meeting in January 2016. He subsequently led several exercises to modernize and update the policy and provided guidance to AIIB Members, Bank staff, and the business community on its implementation.
Before joining AIIB, Nightingale was Lead Procurement Specialist at the World Bank for six years, working both at its headquarters in Washington, D.C., and at the Beijing Procurement Hub to provide advice and guidance on the World Bank’s operational procurement policy and guidelines. Prior to that, he spent 11 years as Deputy Procurement Director at EBRD in London, where he oversaw the Procurement Policy Department and managed procurement strategy, policy compliance, and investigations of procurement-related complaints and fraud.
Nightingale is a Chartered Engineer, a member of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, and a member of the Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply, United Kingdom. He holds a degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Portsmouth, United Kingdom.
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 111 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.
