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Central Files Series

Finance files

The series consists of records related to the management of IBRD, IFC, and IDA funds that were maintained in the Central Files system. The records were predominantly created between 1946 and 1977, except for a single file dating to 1978. Records originated primarily in the Treasurer's Department and its divisions as well as the Office of the Controller that was initially established in the Administration Department in 1948. Records of the Office of the President and Office of the Vice President were also centralized until 1968 and there is some correspondence originating mainly from Presidents John McCloy, Eugene R. Black, and George D. Woods. The correspondence includes internal memoranda mostly between the Bank treasurer or controller and the president or vice president, as well as letters exchanged between these Bank offices and government and corporate bank officials. The records in this series cover the development and maintenance of accounts and accounting systems, reporting of financial information, management of investments, and advancement of overall financial policy of the World Bank Group. This series does not contain records of the World Bank units responsible for donor-based resource mobilization functions related to cofinancing and trust funds or program and budgeting.

The general subject files (1946 - 1974) comprising the series contain mostly internal memoranda to and from the treasurer and controller. Incoming and outgoing cables, draft and final Board of Executive Directors resolutions and reports, Financial Policy Committee reports, Advisory Council notes, data tables, Secretary's memorandum, and other records are also often found within the files. There are also files containing IBRD and IDA monthly financial statements (1946 - 1968) from the Treasurer's Department and a financial statement prepared by Price Waterhouse & Co. dated June 30, 1946 shortly after IBRD began operations. Bank press releases are also attached to some of the financial statements. Other financial statement files arein the form of memoranda regarding the translation, printing, and proofing of financial statements in other languages (1952 - 1969).

Also among the general subject files, capital stock records provide information about the Bank's earliest financial operations and policy decisions. These files contain mostly internal memoranda regarding various capital stock subscription issues such as calls for payment of subscriptions and delays in payment, enquiries about exchange rates, data regarding Bank and Fund member subscriptions and quotas, and procedures of payment with gold. Early records also relate to potential income of the Bank and establishment of the fiscal year. Memoranda is occasionally filed with: data tables such as a comparison of subscriptions or capital structure; excerpts of resolutions of Advisory Council or Board of Directors; draft circulars, some with handwritten annotations; final printed circulars and revised copies, such as the instruction to depositories on the establishment and maintenanceof accounts for IBRD; draft letter to government officials notifying of subscription payment written in June 1946 prior to the Bank's operations; draft and final first reports and second report (both dated May 1946) of the Committee on Capital appointed by the executive directors and chaired by Bank Treasurer Daniel Crena de Iongh; and the Committee on Interpretation 1946 report and note on interpretation of the Articles on Agreement.

Finance subject files also relate to general investment and pension fund investment management, also referred to as staff retirement plan (1948 - 1977), portfolio sales and participation (1972 - 1978), audits and appointment of auditors (1946 - 1974), and overdue service payments (1987). The investment files cover various matters including the development of policy and procedures, interpretation of the Articles of Agreement, and discussions and decisions about investment of Bank holdings in various countries, investment returns, the sale of gold, and audit of investments. Data tables occasionally filed with the memoranda detail schedules of investment securities, U.S. government bonds owned by IBRD, and other financial data.

A set of individual files for each IBRD account according to bank name (1946 - 1974) contains mostly correspondence relating to opening of accounts and policy regarding transactions. The earliest institutions represented in the files include the United States Federal Reserve Bank and American Security and Trust (from 1946), Bank for International Settlements (1947), Banque National Suisse (1948), Chase Manhattan Bank (1949).

IBRD general currency files (1946 - 1974) include correspondence and other material concerning local expenditure and local currency loans, devaluations of currencies on loans, convertibility, exchange rates and risks, repayment of non-dollar currency and supplying non-dollars under dollar loans, losses as a result of devaluation, maintenance of value, and Bank policy material on clauses in loan agreements and denomination. The series also contains currency files by country of origin (1951 - 1971), several which are thin in volume, and cover a variety of topics including currency proposals and problems, loan transactions, and revaluations. Correspondence is filed with financial data tables and forecast reports.

There is also correspondence and statements relating to time deposit investment accounts (1959 - 1972) held in various commercial banks. Files are arranged according to bank.

Records related to IFC finance include general accounts management arranged by bank (1956 - 1971), and time deposit files (1961 - 1971) also organized by bank name. Among the earliest account files (1956) are Federal Reserve Bank and American Security and Trust. Other files (1956 - 1971) relate to financial statements, investments, audits, forecast on income, interest on late payments, reserve against losses, stock options and equity holdings, consultants, and two files concerning borrowing (1969 - 1971).

IDA finance files contain correspondence and other records related to general accounts and opening of accounts by bank (1960 - 1977), several of which relate directly to transactions with the US Federal Reserve and depository statements (1960 - 1971). There are files related to financial statements (1961 - 1971) and related correspondence, time deposits (1960 - 1971), currencies (1960 - 1971), and audits (1961 - 1971). From 1972 to 1977 there are only files titled "Miscellaneous IDA" and a "general" file (1987) and these cover the various aforementioned subjects. There is also a small volume of records related to the fourth, fifth, and eighth IDA replenishments (1971 - 1977, 1987) originating mostly from the Controller and Legal Departments as well as the Office of the Vice President of Finance. Also included in the IDA files is a transcript of proceedings of the IDA meeting on criteria for country allocation of IDA resources, June 3, 1977.

Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research planning files

Series contains records documenting the origins and first year of operation of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) that were maintained by Central Files and created primarily by the Development Services Department (DSD) between 1969 and 1971. A single item dated 1968 is a copy of the by-laws of the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture. Co-sponsored by the World Bank Group, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), CGIAR was established in May 1971 as an informal association of countries, international development agencies, and private foundations to support a network of international agricultural research centers.

Records in this series consist mostly of correspondence between Bank staff assigned responsibility for implementing proposals for CGIAR including DSD Director Richard H. Demuth and Arie Kruithoff and their counterparts at the Rockefeller Foundation, Ford Foundation, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the individual research institutes to be financed through CGIAR, and senior managers of the Bank principally Warren C. Baum and Vice President, Operations J. Burke Knapp. A smaller volume of correspondence is from L.J.C. Evans of the Bank's Agriculture Projects Department, concerning agricultural research summary of meetings.

Other records included in the series are summaries of meetings of agricultural research institutes including the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture, speeches, and study papers and reports produced by the initial agricultural research institutes funded by CGIAR including annual and financial reports. The series also consists of a set of documents on the first meeting of the CGIAR held in January 1971.

Liaison with external organizations, individuals, and United States government

  • WB IBRD/IDA ADMCF-08
  • Series
  • 1946 - 1971 (predominant 1969 - 1971)

The series consists of records related to liaison activities of the World Bank Group that were maintained in the centralized files. The records detail the arrangement and proceedings of meetings hosted by the Bank and meetings the Bank attended that were organized by external organizations, as well as exchanges of information and collaborative programs. Records were predominantly created between 1969 and 1971 and originated in departments who records were centralized including (but not limited to): The Technical Assistance and Liaison Department (TAL) and successor, Development Services Department (DSD); Economics Department; and Projects Department and its sector divisions. A very small volume of correspondence is authored by the Bank president or vice president, field office representatives, country departments, and IFC departments.

Organizations covered in the files include, but are not limited to: International Monetary Fund (IMF); United Nations (UN); United Nations Development Programme (UNDP); United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC); United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD); United Nations Educational, Scientific, Cultural Organization (UNESCO), United Nations Administrative Committee on Coordination (UNACC), United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), and other UN bodies. UNDP files (1969 - 1971) mostly contain correspondence relating to UNDP representatives on assignment and detailing country activities. There are also numerous liaison files with economic commissions, private foundations, academic and scientific institutes, industry and professional associations, religious organizations, international organizations such as Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), World Health Organization (WHO), and International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) containing correspondence to and from the Bank President McNamara, director of Development Services Department, and others. The correspondence is general in matter regarding meetings, visits, conferences, information sharing, ideas for development assistance and occasionally, Bank projects and operations. A portion of the alphabetical files (1972 - 1974) also include individual correspondents external to the Bank such as ministry and central bank officials and heads of corporations, business organizations, or academic institutions, mostly addressed to Bank president. Outgoing replies are from various country departments, Economics Department, Projects Department and sectors, development finance companies director, and others.

Internal memoranda are occasionally in the form of briefing notes, back-to-office reports, and terms of reference. Other records found in the external organization files include external reports and concept papers, and conference and meeting agenda.

The series also contains a smaller volume of records regarding the Bank's early relations with the United States government executive and legislative branches and federal agencies (1946 - 1971). Most of the records are in the form of internal memoranda and incoming and outgoing letters regarding support for foreign aid and operations. Many letters are between senior White House officials, congressmen, and the Bank president, vice president, or US executive director, and between independent US executive branch and federal government agency representatives and Bank senior staff. Bank staff correspondents include the Loan and Economic Departments, Technical Operations and Treasurer's Departments, Information and Public Affairs Department (IPA, initially under DSD), in collaboration mainly with the US Export-Import Bank (EXIM), US Agency for International Development (USAID), and US Department of Agriculture. Some correspondence is filed with proposals, meeting summaries, minutes, financial statements, data tables, Board, Economic and Staff Loan Committee documents, press clippings, copies of US legislation, agency speeches and press releases, and other records. There is also a preliminary draft paper by Carl B. Fritsche titled "The Role of the World Bank in Global Development" (1949).

Records cover routine information exchange and attendance at seminars and roundtables in addition to more substantive subjects such as: the role of the Bank in the European Recovery Project (also known as the Marshall Plan); the establishment and activities of the Bank interdepartmental committee drawn from Research Department and Loan Department to study the Marshall Plan; cooperation with the House Committee of Foreign Affairs and economic policy subcommittee; loan operations of the Bank and US Export-Import Bank and credit applications to countries, also discussion of disbursement rate, joint financing, private capital flows, and proposed US legislation; the Bank's involvement in the missions and hearings of the Committee on Banking and Currency chaired by Senator Homer E. Capehart. The Capehart Committee commissioned a study of IBRD and the Export-Import Bank operations and their relationship to expansion of international trade in 1954. There are several memoranda authored by DSD Senior Policy Planning Adviser Shirley E. Boskey reporting on the proceedings of the committee hearings and comments on draft Bank presentations to the committee.

Board of Directors support and reference

Series consists of records related to the functions of the Board of Executive Directors of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD), International Development Association (IDA), and International Finance Corporation (IFC) that were maintained in the Bank's centralized filing system since 1946, originally General Files, then Central Files. The centralized records originated primarily from Secretary's Department as well as the Office of the President. As described in the archival history section, Secretary's Department is the custodian of Board of Directors records and proceedings but distributed certain correspondence and related documents to the Central Files while maintaining its own official files.

Records in this series include general correspondence files (1947 - 1977) concerning IBRD composition of standing committees, statements of directors, board schedules, procedural issues, information on monthly reports, and routine administrative matters. Correspondence is occasionally filed with related Board reports. While the IDA general correspondence file (1960 - 1966) is sparse, the more substantive general correspondence files for IFC (1956 - 1967) contain draft and issued Board reports regarding country membership and rules of procedure, memoranda concerning routine announcements and amendments to rules of procedure, directors' membership, formation of the IFC Board, statements and meeting summary of the IFC Directors, and investment processes. The IFC general correspondence file also contains the Rules of Procedure and By-laws booklets (1956). Individual correspondence files (1947 - 1971) consist of internal memoranda, outgoing cables and letters, and original letters primarily to and from the Bank president, secretary, and government officials regarding appointments and resignations of directors and alternates, their travel, and other administrative issues. Some individual files occasionally include the director's biographical statement.

There are also cables, memoranda, and Board reports relating to elections (1950 - 1971) and salaries and expenses (1948 - 1971), the latter which includes the report of the Board of Governors Ad Hoc Committee to consider provisions of the Articles of Agreement and By-laws relating to duties and renumeration of executive directors (1949 - 1950).

The series also includes meeting correspondence (1950 - 1971), agenda for IBRD and IDA executive director meetings (1966 - 1974), minutes of some IBRD, IDA, and IFC executive director meetings (1966 - 1974) including IFC directors' 1956 first meetings, IBRD special meetings minutes (1964), summaries, and IBRD, IDA, and IFC resolutions (1967 - 1971).

The series also includes a small volume of records relating to: the establishment and proceedings of the Bank Committee on Directors' Administrative Matters (CODAM, 1967 - 1971); agreement and administration of the Bank-Fund Executive Directors' Library (1968 - 1971); establishment of the Joint Audit Committee of the Executive Directors (1969 - 1971); and revisions of the Operational Policy Manual including the section on aid coordination and well as the approach paper on aid coordination (1970 - 1971).

Operations policy and procedures

Series consists of records related to the formulation of policies, guidelines, standards, and advisory support for lending, economic sector work, and other operations of the International Bank for Reconstruction of Development (IBRD), International Finance Corporation (IFC), and International Development Association (IDA) that were maintained in the centralized files. Records date from 1946 to 1986. There are no records from 1987 in this series, likely because files were handed over to the functional departments following the closure of the NRIC in July 1987. The offices and non-regional departments whose records were centralized over time and are represented most prominently in this series include, but are not limited to: Office of the President and Vice President; Treasurer's Department; Office of the Controller; Research, later Economic Department (years of operation between 1946 - 1952); Technical Operations and divisions (1952 - 1965) and its successors Projects Department (1965 - 1972), Central Projects Staff (1972 - 1982), and Operations Policy Vice Presidency (1982 - 1986); Technical Assistance and Liaison Department (1951 - 1967) and successor, Development Services (1967 - 1973).

Records comprising the series include internal memoranda, incoming and outgoing letters, cables, copies of Board records and committee documents, legal document drafts, concept and strategy papers, external reports, summaries, minutes or excerpts of senior staff and other department or external meetings, and published articles and press clippings. Back-to-office reports and Terms of Reference are often in the form of internal memoranda.

Development and debt policy

A significant volume of records relate to general development and foreign aid policy, strategy, and activities for developing countries. Records cover the period 1947 to 1977 and contain internal memoranda and Bank-produced reports or comments on reports on development including the Tinbergen Report (1953 - 1958), Horowitz Proposal (1964 - 1968), Machado proposal (1963 - 1968), and an article by Hollis B. Chenery entitled "Effectiveness of Foreign Assistance". Also contains original letters sent to and from Presidents Woods and McNamara, and memoranda between the president, vice president, president's Economic Advisor Irving Friedman, with directors or advisors of Economic Department, Development Services, Area Departments, general counsel of the Legal Department, and IFC. There is correspondence regarding President Woods' proposal for a grand assize on development assistance and responses from government officials, and correspondence related to the Bank's support to the Commission on International Development (or Pearson Commission) formed in 1968 at President McNamara's request. There is also correspondence to and from McNamara and senior Bank staff following the Pearson Commission's findings as well as proceedings of the Bank's Committee of the Whole on Pearson Commission Recommendations. Other development topics covered are: development finance trends and outlook; Bank's role as aid coordinator; coordination of bilateral project financing; multilateral financing; Bank study of aid results; use of leverage in development aid; land reform; and the Brandt Commission (1976 - 1983) also known as the Independent Commission on International Development Issues. Development correspondence is often filed together with external reports, copies of Economic Committee papers, published articles and press clippings, and excerpts of senior staff meetings.

Series also includes correspondence, reports, and other documents relating to the Bank's policy on indebtedness (1947 - 1977), debt information compiled for the Annual Report, communication with regional development banks on joint debt, and the Foreign Bondholders Council (1946 - 1971).

IDA operational policy and procedures

The series contains a set of IDA general operational policy and procedure files (1960 - 1971) and files regarding credit regulation, creditworthiness, and Statements of Credits (1966 - 1968). General IDA policy files include reports from the Staff Loan Committee, Board of Directors meetings, IDA Financial Policy committee, and a draft of the Report of the Working Group on IDA policies by Benjamin B. King (1968). Other records concerning IDA policy and guidelines are found throughout this series filed according to the subject matter.

Lending and non-lending policy and procedures

A large volume of records comprising this series relate to IBRD, IFC, and IDA lending policy (1948 - 1986) including specific topics such as: loan regulations and agreements; loan administrative reports; procedures for handling loan applications; lending forecasts including Five-Year Program; structural adjustment lending; Special Project Preparation Facility; Third Window loans; cancellation of loans and credits; and consultative and negative pledge clauses in loan agreements. There are also files on colonial lending (1948 - 1952), effective date, determination of loan grace periods, and amortization payment and maturity.

The series also contains records related to the Bank's technical assistance function from 1946 to 1977 and includes material on the UN Technical Assistance Board, correspondence with technical research institutes and training centers, and quarterly reports.

Project policy and procedures

A sizable portion of records also relate to the development of standards and policy surrounding Bank projects (1946 - 1977) such as appraisal of proposed projects, preparation and costs of projects, supervision of Bank and IDA project loans, project monitoring and identification of problem projects, performance audit reports, and origin of supply particularly for civil works projects.

Also included are records related to the creation, development, and review of Bank Group-wide and divisional procurement and consultant policies (1947 - 1986). Procurement policy issues and advice cover topics such as: assistance to borrowers in procuring materials needed for a project; contract bidding; selection of consultants; sector project contracts; review visits and discussions with governments; and comments on Bank procurement guidelines.

Specific files regarding consultants and contractors selected for Bank projects include correspondence on bidding, bonds, contractual arrangements, and international industry federations. There are also contractor files for certain member countries as well as the 1956 Colquhoun consultancy report.

Mission policy and procedures

Mission files comprising the series (1947 - 1971) relate to the establishment, administration, and functions of economic and sector missions, project supervision missions, technical assistance missions and special missions undertaken primarily by the Area Departments and Projects Department. Correspondence containing mostly internal memoranda, details practices and procedures for the collection of data and reports, scheduling and staffing for missions, cooperation with United Nations other international organizations and financial support of missions, and country updates. Memoranda is occasionally attached to lists of missions, tables with comparative data, Economic Committee reports on missions, and excerpts of senior staff meetings. Also includes a 1947 report on European missions and description of proposed missions. There are a portion of files (1972 - 1974) containing cables and outgoing letters drafted by the Projects Department and its sectors, mostly pertaining to administrative arrangements for missions and meetings and occasionally mission follow up discussions.Also included are correspondence and reports from the Bank's resident offices and missions (1947 - 1968).

Operational committees, working groups, task forces, and meetings

Series also contains the centralized records related to the practices, procedures, composition, and functions of the Bank's committees, working groups, and task forces concerned with operations. Includes memoranda, agenda, minutes, or reports of the Loan Committee (1946 - 1971), Economic Committee (1953 - 1968), Statutory Loan Committee (1947 - 1968), Financial Policy Committee (1949 - 1967), Technical Assistance Committee (1961 - 1964), Committee on Development Projects and Prospects (1975 - 1977), Operational Policy Subcommittee (1982), Advisory Panel on Bank Operations (1966 - 1968) and Working Parties on Financial Aspects of Development Assistance (DAC, 1969 - 1971). The functions of the Technical Assistance Committee that was established in 1961 under the chairmanship of the director of Development Services to review proposals forBank/IDA technical assistance were taken over in 1964 by the Loan Committee. Loan Committee records document committee deliberations, function, structure of meetings, designation of officers, drafting of Operational Memoranda, and subjects for discussion presented by Bank staff. Among the committee records are also files related to senior staff meetings (1963 - 1968).

External aid coordination

The series also contains records concerning the development and implementation of policy and strategies for co-financing covering the period 1975 to 1986 including joint and parallel financing. Records also cover development aid coordination with bilateral and multilateral organizations, aid untying, and guidelines and procedures related to consortia and consultative aid groups sponsored by the Bank (1971 - 1980). Also contains correspondence and documents related to the Consultative Group on Food Production and Investment in Developing Countries (CGFPI, 1974 to 1977).

Arbitration policy and procedures

Arbitration records in the series (1960 - 1971) concern policy and practices for the settlement of differences between member country clients, consultants, contractors, and manufacturers involved in Bank projects. Included is correspondence sent and received primarily by IBRD general counsel and staff and occasionally from operations or sector departments. There is also material concerning the Convention on the Settlement of Investment Disputes (SID), and the establishment of the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) including summary of meeting proceedings (1964 - 1968).

Finance policy and procedures

Financial audit records in the centralized files were primarily created by Treasurer's Department, Office of the Controller, Technical Operations Department, its sector divisions, and successors and relate to external auditing of Bank and IDA borrowers accounts by independent and corporate auditors. Letters and cables to and from government officials, companies, and private banks provide information on balances of loans and loan details, and internal memoranda outlines countries with project loans and contains arrangements and reviews of accounting practices of industrial borrowers.

Records related to the Bank's policy on investment were created between 1950 - 1973 and covers the advancement and protection of private and foreign investments, guarantees, insurance, and the Symington Plan (1953 - 1957). There is also correspondence with international investment institutions and memoranda from Shirley E. Boskey, policy planning officer and senior policy planning advisor in the Development Services Department, concerning the Working Party on International Investment Guarantees.

Portfolio sales and participation records in the series (1947 - 1968) include memoranda to and from Legal and Treasurer's Departments and the Office of the President including President Black. There are also letters, cables, and other material related to the sales of bonds received under loan agreements and participation by outsiders in loans. Includes approvals for borrowing filed by country, certificates of investment, exchange transfers, and statements of borrowers' obligations. Also includes correspondence relating to the Ford Foundation participation (1956 - 1962), German purchasers, and transactions handled by the Bank's New York and Paris Offices.

Development banks and development finance companies

Several files in the series relate to development banks and development finance companies (1951 - 1978) including Bank Group meetings with regional development banks and development finance companies. Other records relate to IFC's appointment of directors to the boards of development banks and of finance companies in which IFC is a shareholder. There are also a few files regarding the Conference of Development Finance Companies (1965 - 1971).

Operations administration

Series contains records concerning Bank operations administration from as early as 1946 and departments' status of projects, reports to andfrom department heads, country assignments, schedules of operations, operational vice president meetings (1978 - 1986), operations evaluation system (1975 - 1977), and operations evaluation reports including the annual report (1978 - 1983). There are also records related to the preparation of Board reports and working papers such as Future Role of the Bank (1977), Possible Improvements in Techniques of Lending - A Study by the Staff of the World Bank (1970), and a review of Bank experience with proposals for the future (1969). Two general reports files (1975 - 1977) relate to the distribution, format, quality of various reports proposals and standards for the president's report, appraisal report, economic and sector reports, annual report, and drafting of confidentiality agreement of contractors regarding Bank records.

The series also includes correspondence and other records related to policies, practices, and preparation for Bank Group operational reports and statements including: Monthly Operational Summary of Bank and IDA projects (1955 - 1971); Semi-Monthly Operational Report to the Executive Directors on Bank and IDA Operations (1967 - 1971); IFC Monthly Report (1966 - 1968); Statement of Loans (1952 - 1976); Status of Loans (1954 - 1970); Statement of Credits (1969 - 1975); World Tables (1969 - 1976); Country Data and Economic Indicators, Country Economic Brief and Country Program Papers (1969 - 1985).

There is also material concerning the planning and preparation of the Bank's operational directives including the Operational Memorandum and Manual (1952- 1986), Central Projects Notes and Operational Policy Note (1981 - 1986) and Projects Department Director's Memoranda (1969 - 1971).

Fellowship and training files in this series (1969 - 1971) primarily originated in the Projects Department and its sectors, particularly the Education Sector, and contain mostly internal memoranda and cables related to: administrative arrangements of member country trainees for operational projects also known as manpower trainees; nominations of trainees; proposed training for Projects Department professional staff; trainee and fellowship recipient reports; and comments on a draft manual on an "overseas" training program.

Membership files

Series contains records maintained in Central Files and semi-centralized filing stations from 1946 until 1977 that relate to membership of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD), International Finance Corporation (IFC), and International Development Association (IDA). The records originated in the departments and offices whose files were centralized over a period of time including, but are not limited to: Offices of the President and Vice President; Treasurer's Department and its Cashier's Division; Office of the Controller; Legal Department; and others. Records also originated from the Secretary's Department responsible for coordinating the membership process. The department distributed certain correspondence and related documents to the Central Files while likely maintaining its own official files.

Records include internal memoranda, letters, cables, drafts and final Board resolutions, Secretary's memoranda, financial statements, handwritten notes, press releases, press clippings, external reports, national legislation documents, and other records. Informal meeting notes and summaries of discussion during visits to countries are in the form of internal memoranda. There are also summaries of annual meeting discussions between regional staff with delegations prepared as internal memoranda. Letters are primarily between the Bank president, vice president, Secretary's or Treasurer's Departments and government officials such as ministers, central bank authorities, and ambassadors.

Individual country membership files were separately maintained for IBRD, IFC, and IDA. The files document early discussions of membership, changes in membership status, and occasionally refers to the political situation of the country interested in membership.

Within the IBRD membership records (1946 - 1977), country files are subdivided into membership, capital, depository, governors and alternates, and withdrawals of membership for certain countries. Correspondence specifically relates to: notifications of interest or intention for membership; acknowledgement of applications and updates on membership process; opening and closing of accounts; payments of contributions by central banks; revaluations and devaluations of contributions; problems of interest due and unpaid subscriptions; bearing demands; audit and policy questions; monthly statements of transactions; procedures for maintenance of accounts in the name of IBRD; and adjustments of loans.

IFC country membership files (1954 - 1971) contain correspondence regarding background material for Bank/IFC/International Monetary Fund membership, discussions on projects financed by IFC, payments required from each country on its pending capital subscription to IFC, statements showing the balance of accounts, IFC loans, and a file concerning United States budget contribution to IFC. There is a smaller volume of files related to general IFC membership matters, IFC capital, and replenishment resources. General membership correspondence covers issues such as pending increases in member's capital subscriptions, holdings of non-convertible currencies in member countries as of June 1971 and matters relating to China's membership. Other files concern IFC capital stock and capital increase, subscriptions of member countries, replenishment of IFC capital, correspondence from IBRD to IFC concerning the use of Bank funds loaned to IFC, financial statements, schedules of projected subscriptions adjustments of IFC capital subscription. IFC replenishment resourcesfiles include correspondence documenting IFC needs for additional loan, increase of IFC equity resources, or capital stock, and new projection capital invested in equities.

IDA membership correspondence (1960 - 1977) concerns requests for the maintenance of accounts, additional subscriptions under IDA replenishment resources and payment process, requests for opening accounts in IDA books, balance of accounts, and maintenance of value due on initial subscription.

Administration and organization

Series consists of records related to the internal administration and organization of the International Bank of Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) and International Development Association (IDA) maintained in the centralized filing system from 1946 to 1980. Records related to the International Finance Corporation (IFC) are less voluminous and were created between 1956 and 1974.

Records originated in the departments and offices whose files were centralized over time including, but not limited to: Administration; Organization and Planning; Development Services Department; Controller's Department; Program and Budgeting; Information Solutions; and the Office of the President and Office of the Vice President whose files were centralized until 1968. Although Secretary's Department records were considered specialized according to the Administration Manual and were decentralized beginning from 1947, there is a significant volume of correspondence between the Secretary's Department and other centralized departments in this series. The types of records comprising the series include internal memoranda occasionally filed with accompanying Board or committee reports and other internal reports and drafts, as well as cables, incoming and outgoing letters, minutes of meetings and proceedings, copies and drafts of contracts and agreements, press releases, press clippings, external reports and articles, and architectural plans and drawings.

The series contains records related to the organization and procedures of theBank as well as the establishment of its departments and subordinate offices. A small volume of files related to the President's Office and Vice President's Office (1947 - 1971) document general and personal activities and congratulatory letters, as well as two files regarding the organization of the President's Council (1969 - 1968) and subjects for discussion at the council meetings, together with organizational charts and bulletins. The records also document Bank-wide reorganizations as well as work programs, budgets, staffing requirements, internal relations, and activity reports of various Bank departments and divisions from 1946 to the 1970s including: Administration, Economic Department, Loan Department, Legal Department, Development Services and its successor Information and Public Affairs, Technical Operations and its successor Projects Department, Programming and Budgeting, Technical Assistance and Planning Staff, Secretary's, and Treasurer's. Several files relate to the organization of the Bank's early economic research program as well as meeting summaries and monthly progress reports of the Loan Department and Economic Department and its' sector division staff. These department files mostly contain memoranda that is occasionally attached to administrative circulars announcing staffing assignments and organizational changes, press clippings, or other records. A few files in the series relate to Economic Development Institute (EDI) administration, inquiries, and library project (1969 - 1971). Field offices files document administrative procedures for the setting-up and operations of offices. Correspondence is mostly between the Bank's representatives or field office staff, and senior management and staff at headquarters. The more substantive letters in the representative files describe the economic situation in the countries. Field offices files include the following record date ranges: Paris Office, also referred to as the European Office, first opened in Europe (1947 - 1979), New York (1947 - 1971), Beirut (1952 - 1954), London (1956 - 1979), Geneva (1965 - 1968), Copenhagen (1969 - 1971), and Treasurer Department's various offices in Europe (1947 - 1949). A small number of resident mission files (1969 - 1980) mostly relate to the offices' functions, leasing of premises, and other administrative matters.

Other records in the series document policies and operations of the Bank's administrative and support services such as: records management and the maintenance and disposition of World Bank records and official documents; Joint Library and Legal Library; internal audit; translation and document printing services; communications; the use of devices and computers; and data processing.

Series also contains records related to the Articles of Agreement and By-Laws of IBRD and IDA (1946 - 1971). Included are: internal memoranda; cables; copies of the Articles including in French and Spanish; printed by-laws; drafts and official Board documents and decisions; reports of the Committee on Interpretations and Committee on Procedure; and correspondence concerning the interpretation and amendments of these instruments as well as the IFC Articles of Agreement and Charter; and voting of countries on the articles and by-laws. Other files concern the IBRD, IDA, and IFC budget (1948 - 1971) language (1950 - 1968), and seals (1956 - 1965).

There are records such as internal memoranda and reports, United Nations resolutions and minutes, UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) reports, press clippings, and speeches related to the history and inauguration of IFC (1956 - 1974), history of the Bank, and history projects such as the Brookings Institution publication and oral history planning (1942, 1944, 1947 - 1974). There is a single file related to the origin of IDA, labeled as General Counsel "Mr. Sommers' working file on IDA" including legislation, summaries of President Black's meetings, statements of Board of Governors, and country member notes on the IDA proposal (1959 - 1960). Also included is a list of bibliographic sources from pre-Bretton Woods period. The 1942 and 1944 documents are copies of outlines and draft "Proposal for a Bank of Reconstruction and Development of the United and Associated Nations" by the United States Treasury research department. Also includes correspondence regarding the planning of anniversary celebrations (1956 - 1971), draft statements, and press coverage booklets of the tenth and twentieth anniversaries of IBRD (1966).

Donations and organizational membership records in the series (1956 - 1968) relate to policy discussion about Bank financial contributions to international and local institutions, professional societies, as well as club memberships and membership dues.

Series also contains records of various Bank meetings and the functions and procedures of committees beginning from 1946 to 1977. Includes correspondence and minutes of professional staff meetings (1951 - 1968), senior staff meetings (1969 - 1971), department heads meetings outside of Washington, or "lost weekends" (1952 - 1968), Administration Department staff meetings (1947 - 1968), and other department meetings (1966 - 1968). Committee records include minutes or reports of: the Board Committee on Administration and Administrative Policy (1946 - 1957); Board Committee on Interpretation and Procedure (1946 - 1949); Joint Bank-Fund Committee on Integrated Services and Functions (1949 -1953); Joint Library Committee (1946 - 1947); Committee on Bank Organization (1952); Committee on Staff Utilization (1955); PublicationsCommittee (1969 - 1971); and others.

The series contains a substantial volume of records concerning the preparation and amendment of directives and manuals that set out the policies, procedures, and standards for the overall management and administration of the World Bank from 1946. Includes correspondence and statements regarding the preparation of the Administrative Manual, Organizational Bulletin and Policies and Procedures Statements (1947 - 1966), IFC Administrative Manual (1956 - 1966), Basic Documents Manual (1961 - 1971), and Organizational Manual (1966 -1971). There are also sets of the Administrative Order and Information Circular (1946 - 1947), Administrative Circulars (1947 - 1974) and Weekly Bulletins (1965 - 1971), and related memoranda. The Weekly Bulletins replaced the Information Bulletin in December 1952 and were prepared successively by the Administrative Planning Division, the Organization and Procedures Division (1970), the Administrative Services Department's Document Services Division (1972), and Information and Public Affairs (1973). There are also copies of the Development Services Department newsletter (1969 - 1971).

The series contains memoranda and other records concerning agreements (1949 - 1975) of an administrative nature such as cost-sharing between IBRD and IDA, Bank and IFC, and between the Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF). Other agreements pertain to library services of the Joint Library and the Legal Library, United Nations and the Bank, and leasing of space and office rentals. There are also records related to authorized signatures for written instruments.

Series contains correspondence, copies of contracts, building and floor plans, technical drawings, and other records relating to the acquisition, construction, and maintenance of World Bank Group buildings and management of premises in Washington, Paris, London, and New York (1949 - 1977). There are several files documenting the construction of the Bank "D" building at 1809 G Street, Washington. Also included are New York office plans dated 1963 and reproductions of 1937 plans.

Series also contains records related to Bank assets such as vehicles and apartments and facilities for Economic Development Institute (EDI) participation, insurance coverage of buildings and vehicles, as well as other administrative files on office services, conference rooms and cafeterias, maintenance contracts, office space and security, parking facilities, and the creation of the Bank-Fund Credit Union.

There are also records related to general staff services and policies, financial assistance, privileges and immunities, taxation including Bank staff exemptions, travel policy and travel services, retirement plan, staff health and welfare, insurance coverage, and the Staff Association. Includes privileges and immunities files for IFC (1955 - 1968). Other files deal with contributions to charity, allowances for official entertainment, and policy regarding the acceptance of gifts, civil defense, and other matters.

Series also contains a small portion of reports, correspondence, and other records relating to varied topics including: studies of the Bank's organization and procedures conducted by General Counsel Davidson Sommers (1962 - 1966) and Vice President Mohamed Shoaib's Study Committee (1966 - 1967); the Bank's involvement in the establishment of the Washington International School (1969 - 1971); public relations (1972 - 1974); and copy of the report "The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, 1946 - 1953".

Board of Governors support and reference

Series consists of records relating to the functions of the Board of Governors of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD), International Development Association (IDA), and International Finance Corporation (IFC) created between 1946 to 1977 that were maintained in the centralized files system. The records in this series primarily originated from the Secretary's Department and the Office of the President. As described in the archival history section, Secretary's Department is the custodian of Board of Governors records and proceedings, but distributed certain correspondence and related documents to the Central Files while maintaining its own official files. Types of records in the series include internal memoranda, letters and cables, and original letters from government officials. Occasionally accompanying the correspondence are Board documents, press clippings, and printed material such as booklets.

A sizable portion of the series contains records related to World Bank Group Annual Meetings beginning from 1950 to 1977. Meeting files include correspondence regarding meeting arrangements, guests, consultations and briefing appointments, panel discussions, committee agendas, staffing, joint procedures, social events, public relations, and liaison and agreements with International Monetary Fund (IMF). There is also correspondence and other records relating to the President's speech to the Annual Meetings such as: proposals of topics; provision of data including ten-year figures on Bank activities; preliminary and final speech issued as a press release; and governors' reactions to the addresses in the form of letters. Summary of proceedings from 1965 are included in a portion of the files.

Series also contains records relating to the preparation of IBRD, IDA, and IFC annual reports (1950 - 1977) presented by the Bank president at the Annual Meetings. Although there is no first annual report booklet for IFC within the files, the series contains IFC's second and other printed annual reports, as well as memoranda concerning the preparation and drafting of the first IFC annual report. Records of the earliest annual reports from the first to fifth reports are absent from the IBRD and IDA files, although there are memoranda and a press release summary of the sixth annual IBRD annual report and subsequent reports. Also included in the files is a statement of Bank policies for the 1950 annual report outlined in a memorandum from Martin Rosen to J. Burke Knapp and memoranda regarding submissions of text for inclusion and draft reports, and printing of the reports.

General files beginning from 1946 contain mostly routine correspondence regarding travel of Governors to annual meetings, expenses, and allowances. The substantive correspondence includes discussion of procedural issues in accordance with the articles and by-laws, first IFC investment involving equity and a drafted letter to be sent by President Black to governors regarding IFC chairmanship.

Series also contains records relating to early Board committees (1948 - 1950) such as the Committee on Rules and Regulations, Committee on Membership, and Ad Hoc Committee to consider provisions to duties and renumeration of Executive Directors. The Committees file contains outgoing memoranda primarily from the Bank secretary and Board committee reports and resolutions. Most of the correspondence is administrative and relates to travel and distribution of documentation. A file on the Advisory Council (1948 - 1950) includes draft notes and resolutions.

Also included in the series is the Board of Governors supplementary report to United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC, 1965) and two files on Board resolutions (1969 - 1971).

Operational sector files

  • WB IBRD/IDA ADMCF-07
  • Series
  • 1944, 1946 - 1987 (predominant 1969 - 1986)

Series consists of records concerning the formulation of policies, guidelines and standards, and advisory support for lending as well as economic sector work of the International Bank for Reconstruction of Development (IBRD). These records were maintained in the centralized files from 1946 to 1987. The 1987 records in this series are very few. The remainder of 1987 files were likely handed over to the functional departments following the closure of the NRIC in July 1987. The offices and non-regional departments whose records were centralized over time and are represented most prominently in this series include (but are not limited to): Office of the President and Vice President (beginning 1946); Research, later Economic Department (1946 - 1952); Technical Operations and sector divisions (1952 - 1965) and its successors Projects Department (1965 -1972), Central Projects Staff (1972 - 1982), and Operations Policy Vice Presidency (1982 - 1986).

Records in the series predominantly cover the period 1946 to 1986, apart from a file on pulp and paper that contains a copy of an external report dated 1944. The 1987 records are limited to a single file concerning urban development. Records are mostly in the form of internal memoranda or incoming and outgoing letters that are sometimes filed with cables, project data reports, evaluation reports, commodities notes, study reports or concept papers written by staff or consultants, private sector proposals, external publications and reports from governments and agencies, press clippings, external articles, conference and meeting invitations, list of participants, and booklets. Draft and final case studies, back-to-office reports, terms of reference, and progress reports are often in the form of internal memoranda.

The series contains a substantial quantity of records concerning the Bank lending policy and guidelines as well as economic sector work in the form of projects and studies for operational sectors including (but not limited to): agriculture; education; industry; rural and urban development; housing; energy; ecology; environment; population and family planning; health and nutrition; trade; transportation; water supply and waste; public utilities; and public finance. Specific industries covered in the files are mining, forestry, construction, ports and shipping, tourism, and science and technology, among others.

Sector lending policy and guidelines files consists mostly of internal memoranda originating in the Economic Department (1946 - 1952) and its successors later under the vice president then senior vice president of operations including Central Projects, its sector departments, and Operations Policy Vice Presidency. Correspondents outside of the Bank include consulting firms, assorted United Nations agency officers, country and university officials, and private industry representatives. The records contain general policy formulation and discussion on the following subjects: project evaluation; studies to support consideration of Bank loans and terms of reference for the studies; comments on concept papers and on industry guidelines; Bank staff visits to the field and missions; project performance audit reports; unit activities and work program; participation in seminars, conferences or other events; and requests for technical information from international industry experts regarding pulp and paper management, seed processing machinery, animal breeding, and other specialized topics.

Also included in the series are several files, many originating from the Projects Advisory Staff and units, concerning procurement (1978 - 1986), consultants and consulting services (1980 - 1986), cofinancing (1983 -1986), and feasibility program files which concern project and sector studies of the Development Service Department (1960 - 1965). There is also a single file dated 1978 regarding the Consultative Group on Food Production and Investment in Development Countries (CGFPI), and three photographs depicting a World Bank display of publications and posters for an environment sector event in the 1970s.

Project and study files also include the Bank's research and policy analyses on numerous commodities as well as commodity prices stabilization, development aid, economic data and reporting, capital markets and capital mobilization, imports and exports, Bank financing, and other subjects. The commodities files include several on coffee which provide information about statistics on prices, production, distribution and export, project participation with the International Coffee Organization and ICO meetings in which the Bank participated as observers, and the International Coffee Agreement (1969 - 1971). Other commodities included among the files are oil, gold, metals, sugar, jute, livestock, and several others.

Borrowing and bond issues

Series consists of records maintained in Central Files and semi-centralized filing stations that relate to the formation and management of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) borrowing operations in international capital markets, between 1946 and 1974. The records detail the development of bonds, or debt securities, as a method of financing Bank lending operations, the marketing of bonds, and issuance of the first IBRD bonds and others that followed. The first two bond issues totaling $250 million were sold on the New York Stock Exchange on July 15, 1947. The first issue of bonds in a currency other than United States dollars was a Swiss franc private placement with the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) in 1948, and the first public bond offering outside of the United States was a sterling issue on the London market in 1951. Records in the series also cover the selling of securities from the early 1950s through 1974 in the capital markets mainly concentrated in Canada (first issue in 1952), western Europe, Japan, Kuwait, and other countries.

The records originated in the units whose files were centralized over a period of time and whom worked closely together on borrowing, including Treasurer's Department, Legal Department, Marketing Department based in the Bank's New York office, and Office of the Controller. Records of the Office of the President were also centralized until 1968 and there is correspondence originating mainly from Presidents John McCloy, Eugene R. Black, and George D. Woods.

General and background records

Bond records contain general correspondence files (1946 - 1968) and background material (1946 - 1947) related to the establishment of borrowing operations. Other general files in the series relate to matters concerning bond holders, quotations, inquiries, purchase contracts, printing, prospectus, cancellations, cremations, taxes, and other subjects. There is a smaller volume of files concerning a price study by G. Holzman regarding the sale and repurchase of securities (1947).

Borrowing records

A large volume of files relate to approvals for borrowing are arranged according to banking or financial institution and specific bond issue. Records are predominantly created from 1946, apart from a few files with background documents dated 1937 to 1945; these include copies of the United States Department of the Treasury regulations governing the destruction of United States securities. There are original incoming and outgoing letters, including letters of approval from Bank president or vice president to country ministers or central bank executives, and letters to and from Bank secretary and general counsel with country officials outlining proposed changes to related legislation. Correspondence between the Bank chief, Securities Division of Treasurer's Department and the chief, Accounting Division of Controller's Department to the banking institutions document the underwriting and offering arrangements with information about the percentage, account, details of purchase transaction, and any settlement of amounts. Correspondence is often filed with copies of country legislation regulating the trade of securities and terms, as well as receipts, cables, copies of certificates, draft and final Board resolutions authorizing proposed borrowings, handwritten notes, data tables, and external records such as the United States Security and Exchange Commission and US Treasury press releases. Internal memoranda periodically details the Bank's operations in the lending country, condition of markets, and summaries of Bank senior officials' visits to the country.

Bond issues

The series also contains a large volume of bond issue files arranged by country and specific issue. Several bond issue files are further arranged into 'general', 'printing', 'prospectus', 'purchase contracts', 'registration' and 'redemption'. Most of the records originated in the Treasurer's Department and Legal Department and relate to bond arrangements and transactions with international banking institutions and trust companies.

The general bond issue files mostly contain internal memoranda and letters that detail the proposed bond issues and terms of conditions for purchase, arrangements with international banks to list bonds on the stock exchanges and publish advertisements, regulatory and tax status of bonds, meetings with country officials, and other matters. Correspondence is often filed with: Bank press releases; draft and final Board resolutions detailing bond issues and attached purchase agreements, temporary stock certificate, and form of definitive bond (or coupon); memorandum of sale; and meeting summaries and minutes including those of the Staff Loan Committee. There are also copies of correspondence between the Bank president and country finance minister related to the approval for proposed borrowing. Certain bond issue files provide information about the relationship between the Bank and country, particularly in the case of the early Switzerland files.

Printing files contain letters between the Bank's Legal Department or others, and corporations regarding the approval of specimen bond certificates and printing of bonds. Correspondence in the United States files is primarily with the American Bank Note Company. Other records in the files include specimen bond certificates and press clippings from international newspapers.

The prospectus correspondence concerns the distribution of the prospectus to dealers, comments on preliminary drafts and registration statement, primarily between Legal and Secretary's Departments and government officials.

Bond registration records contains correspondence to and from the Bank's general counsel to the secretary and others, with attached copies of the registration statement, Bank Articles of Agreement and By-Laws, loan agreement, and preliminary prospectus in accordance with legal requirements under United States Securities Act and other national legislation.

The redemption records relate to various matters including payment of redemption price, draftBoard resolutions authorizing redemption, letters from the Bank treasurer to fiscal agents authorizing payments on principal, interest, and redemption premium, other cables and letters with private banks regrading refunding operations of bonds, publication of redemption notices, and sinking fund payments.

Purchase contract files contains primarily letters concerning the purchase of bond issues outlining terms of contract and payment details, mostly between the Bank's chief of Finance Department, the director of Marketing Department, and commercial banks.

Marketing

The series also contains a substantial quantity of records regarding marketing of bonds arranged by country (1947 - 1974) and include: internal memoranda and incoming and outgoing letters, many sent and received from the Marketing Department based in New York City and the director of Public Relations; copies of public releases and newspaper advertisements inviting tenders on bond issues, several of them notarized as certification of advertising. There is also internal memoranda from Bank secretary to president and outgoing letters from Presidents Black and McCloy to executive directors and alternate directors proposing expanding marketing of World Bank bonds. Memoranda from 1947 discusses a program of advertising for World Bank securities and the benefits of advertising.

Fiscal agents

Records comprising the series also include fiscal agent files (1946 - 1974) representing the following institutions from the earliest years of operation (1946 to 1949): Federal Reserve Bank of New York; Chase Manhattan Bank; Bank of Canada; Bank of Mexico; Bank of Paris; and agents in Germany and United Kingdom. Records relate to arrangements and draft agreements between the Bank and fiscal agents performing financial duties such as authentication, registration, and bond redemption.

Records comprising the series are primarily in English, however, some bond advertisement press clippings, prospectuses, and Board documents are in other languages indicated belowin the Language note.