An international financial institution (IFI) is a

financial institution Financial institutions, sometimes called banking institutions, are business entities that provide services as intermediaries for different types of financial monetary transactions. Broadly speaking, there are three major types of financial inst ...

that has been established (or chartered) by more than one country, and hence is subject to

international law International law (also known as public international law and the law of nations) is the set of rules, norms, and standards generally recognized as binding between states. It establishes normative guidelines and a common conceptual framework for ...

. Its owners or shareholders are generally national governments, although other

international institutions An international organization or international organisation (see spelling differences), also known as an intergovernmental organization or an international institution, is a stable set of norms and rules meant to govern the behavior of states an ...

and other organizations occasionally figure as shareholders. The most prominent IFIs are creations of multiple nations, although some bilateral financial institutions (created by two countries) exist and are technically IFIs. The best known IFIs were established after World War II to assist in the reconstruction of Europe and provide mechanisms for international cooperation in managing the global financial system.

Types

Multilateral Development Banks

A multilateral development bank (MDB) is an institution, created by a group of countries, that provides

financing Funding is the act of providing resources to finance a need, program, or project. While this is usually in the form of money, it can also take the form of effort or time from an organization or company. Generally, this word is used when a firm use ...

and professional advice to enhance

development Development or developing may refer to: Arts *Development hell, when a project is stuck in development *Filmmaking, development phase, including finance and budgeting *Development (music), the process thematic material is reshaped * Photograph ...

. An MDB has many members, including developed donor countries and developing borrower countries. MDBs finance projects through long-term loans at market rates, very-long-term loans below market rates (also known as credits), and grants. The following are usually classified as the main MDBs: *

World Bank The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and grants to the governments of low- and middle-income countries for the purpose of pursuing capital projects. The World Bank is the collective name for the Inte ...

* European Investment Bank (EIB) *

Islamic Development Bank The Islamic Development Bank ( ar, البنك الإسلامي للتنمية, abbreviated as IsDB) is a multilateral development finance institution that is focused on Islamic finance for infrastructure development and located in Jeddah, Saudi ...

(IsDB) *

Asian Development Bank The Asian Development Bank (ADB) is a regional development bank established on 19 December 1966, which is headquartered in the Ortigas Center located in the city of Mandaluyong, Metro Manila, Philippines. The bank also maintains 31 field offic ...

(ADB) * European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) * CAF - Development Bank of Latin America (CAF) * Inter-American Development Bank Group (IDB, IADB) *

African Development Bank The African Development Bank Group (AfDB) or (BAD) is a multilateral development finance institution headquartered in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, since September 2014. The AfDB is a financial provider to African governments and private companies ...

(AfDB) *

New Development Bank The New Development Bank (NDB), formerly referred to as the BRICS Development Bank, is a multilateral development bank established by the BRICS states (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa). According to the Agreement on the NDB, ...

(NDB) * Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) * Arab Petroleum Investments Corporation (APICORP) * Eastern and Southern African

Trade and Development Bank The Trade and Development Bank (TDB), formerly the PTA Bank, is a trade and development financial institution operating in eastern and southern Africa. TDB is the financial arm of the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA), alth ...

(TDB) There are also several "sub-regional" multilateral development banks. Their membership typically includes only borrowing nations. The banks lend to their members, borrowing from the international

capital markets A capital market is a financial market in which long-term debt (over a year) or equity-backed securities are bought and sold, in contrast to a money market where short-term debt is bought and sold. Capital markets channel the wealth of savers ...

. Because there is effectively shared responsibility for repayment, the banks can often borrow more cheaply than could any one member nation. These banks include: *

Caribbean Development Bank The Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) is a financial institution that helps Caribbean nations finance social and economic programs in its member countries. CDB was established by an Agreement signed on October 18, 1969, in Kingston, Jamaica, and ent ...

(CDB) * Central American Bank for Economic Integration (CABEI) *

East African Development Bank The East African Development Bank (EADB) is a development finance institution with the objective of promoting development in the member countries of the East African Community. Overview EADB plays a threefold role of lender, adviser, and developm ...

(EADB) *

West African Development Bank The West African Development Bank - WADB (fr. Banque Ouest Africaine de Développement - BOAD / pt. Banco de Desenvolvimento do Oeste Africano - BDOA) is an international Multilateral Development Bank established in 1973 to serve the nations of F ...

(BOAD) *

Black Sea Trade and Development Bank The Black Sea Trade and Development Bank (BSTDB) is an international financial institution serving the eleven member founding countries of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation, a regional economic organization. It supports economic development an ...

(BSTDB) * Economic Cooperation Organization Trade and Development Bank (ETDB) *

Eurasian Development Bank The Eurasian Development Bank (EDB) is an international financial institution investing in the development of the economies, trade and other economic ties, and integration in Eurasian countries. The EDB was founded in 2006 and is headquartered in ...

(EDB) *

North American Development Bank The North American Development Bank (NADBank) is a binational financial institution capitalized and governed equally by the Federal Governments of the United States of America and Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexic ...

(Nadbank) There are also several multilateral financial institutions (MFIs). MFIs are similar to MDBs but they are sometimes separated since they have more limited memberships and often focus on financing certain types of projects. *

European Commission The European Commission (EC) is the executive of the European Union (EU). It operates as a cabinet government, with 27 members of the Commission (informally known as "Commissioners") headed by a President. It includes an administrative body ...

(EC) * International Finance Facility for Immunisation (IFFIm) * International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) *

Nordic Investment Bank The Nordic Investment Bank (NIB) is an international financial institution founded in 1975 by the five Nordic countries (Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden). In 2005, the three Baltic states (Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania) also beca ...

(NIB) *

OPEC Fund for International Development The OPEC Fund for International Development (OPEC Fund) is an intergovernmental development finance institution established in 1976 by the member states of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC). The OPEC Fund was conceived ...

* Nederlandse Financieringsmaatschappij voor Ontwikkelingslanden NV (FMO) *

International Bank for Economic Co-operation International is an adjective (also used as a noun) meaning "between nations". International may also refer to: Music Albums * International (Kevin Michael album), ''International'' (Kevin Michael album), 2011 * International (New Order album), ' ...

(IBEC) * International Investment Bank (IIB) *

Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa The Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa (BADEA) (Banque Arabe pour le Développement Economique en Afrique) (المصرف العربي للتنمية الاقتصادية في أفريقيا) was established pursuant to the resolution o ...

(BADEA)

Bretton Woods institutions

The best-known IFIs were established after

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

to assist in the reconstruction of Europe and provide mechanisms for international cooperation in managing the

global financial system The global financial system is the worldwide framework of legal agreements, institutions, and both formal and informal economic actors that together facilitate international flows of financial capital for purposes of investment and trade finan ...

. They include the

, the IMF, and the

International Finance Corporation The International Finance Corporation (IFC) is an international financial institution that offers investment, advisory, and asset-management services to encourage private-sector development in less developed countries. The IFC is a member of ...

. Today the largest IFI in the world is the European Investment Bank which lent 61 billion euros to global projects in 2011.

Regional development banks

The regional development banks consist of several regional institutions that have functions similar to the World Bank group's activities, but with particular focus on a specific region. Shareholders usually consist of the regional countries plus the major donor countries. The best-known of these regional banks cover regions that roughly correspond to

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmoniz ...

regional groupings, including the Inter-American Development Bank, the

; the

; the Central American Bank for Economic Integration; and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development. The

is among the leading multilateral development banks. IsDB is the only multilateral development bank after the World Bank that is global in terms of its membership. 56 member countries of IsDB are spread over Asia, Africa, Europe and Latin America.

Bilateral development banks and agencies

bilateral Bilateral may refer to any concept including two sides, in particular: *Bilateria, bilateral animals *Bilateralism, the political and cultural relations between two states *Bilateral, occurring on both sides of an organism ( Anatomical terms of l ...

development bank is a financial institution set up by one individual country to finance development projects in a developing country and its

emerging market An emerging market (or an emerging country or an emerging economy) is a market that has some characteristics of a developed market, but does not fully meet its standards. This includes markets that may become developed markets in the future or wer ...

, hence the term

, as opposed to multilateral. Examples include: * the

Netherlands Development Finance Company FMO FMO ( nl, Nederlandse Financierings-Maatschappij voor Ontwikkelingslanden N.V.) is a Dutch development bank structured as a bilateral private-sector international financial institution based in the Hague, the Netherlands. FMO manages funds for ...

, headquarters in

The Hague The Hague ( ; nl, Den Haag or ) is a city and municipality of the Netherlands, situated on the west coast facing the North Sea. The Hague is the country's administrative centre and its seat of government, and while the official capital o ...

; one of the largest bilateral development banks worldwide. * the DEG

German Investment Corporation Deutsche Investitions- und Entwicklungsgesellschaft (DEG) is a Development Finance Institution (DFI) and a subsidiary of KfW Group. It was founded in Cologne in September 1962 as a federally owned company by the former Federal President Walter ...

or Deutsche Investitions- und Entwicklungsgesellschaft, headquartered in

Cologne, Germany Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 million inhabitants in the city proper and 3.6 million ...

. * the

French Development Agency The French Development Agency (french: Agence française de développement, AFD) is a public financial institution that implements the policy defined by the French Government. It works to fight poverty and promote sustainable development. This pub ...

, and

Caisse des dépôts Caisse, a French word, may refer to: * Caisse Desjardins, an association of credit unions in Quebec * Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears, a road-bicycle racing team *Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec, a public pension fund in Quebec * Caisse n ...

, founded 1816, both headquartered in

Paris, France Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. Si ...

. * the

CDC Group British International Investment, (formerly CDC Group plc, Commonwealth Development Corporation, and Colonial Development Corporation) is the development finance institution of the UK government. The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office ...

, is a development finance institution owned by the UK Government headquartered in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

Other regional financial institutions

Financial institutions of neighboring countries established themselves internationally to pursue and finance activities in areas of mutual interest; most of them are central banks, followed by development and investment banks. The table below lists some of them in chronological order of when they were founded or listed as functioning as a legal entity. Some institutions were conceived and started working informally 2 decades before their legal inception (e.g. the South East Asian Central Banks Centre)

References

External links

Dataset on all official international lending (230,000 loans, grants and guarantees) by states and multilateral institutions over the period 1790-2015.Bank Information Center

{{Portal bar, Economy * Supranational banks International development Multilateral development banks