Minutes of the organizational meeting held at the World Bank Headquarters in Washington DC on Monday 22 December 2003

Minutes of the organizational meeting held at the World Bank Headquarters in Washington DC on Monday 22 December 2003. The following members of the Board were present: International Monetary Fund: Mr. Bert E. Keuppens, Senior Advisor. United Nations: Mr. Jean-Pierre Halbwachs, Assistant Secretary-General, Controller. World Bank: Mr. Fayezul Choudhury, Vice-President and Controller. Absent with apologies: Mr. Chris Hemus, Deputy Chief, Finance Department Mr. Jayantilal Karia, Director, Accounts Division, Mr. Charles McDonough, Director, Accounting Department, Mr. W. Ofosu Amaah, Vice President and Corporate Secretary The meeting was opened at 10:00 a.m. by the Chair who informed the other members that the member from the Arab Fund could not attend the meeting due to factors beyond his control. The agenda was unanimously adopted. Certain revisions in the Minutes for the meeting of the 5/12/2003 were discussed. Statement of Work The main focus of the meeting was the Statement of Work (SOW) for the external audit of the Development Fund for Iraq (DFI). Members made a number of comments on the draft SOW pointing, among other things, to the need to: make the heading more descriptive; clarify the issue of designated recipient; elaborate on the four deliverables; adjust the audit option periods; clarify the role of IAMB with External Auditors. The Chair undertook to revise the SOW on the basis of comments made during the meeting and to circulate the revised draft to the members for final review and comments. The Chair would subsequently complete the draft and submit it to the CPA before the end of the year. The Chair would also request the CPA to provide briefings on accounting and reporting issues relating to the DFI. The following were identified as areas of interest to the Board: The DFI in general; The link between the Program Review Board (PRB) disbursements to actual programs delivered; The procurement process of the CPA; The manner in which the CPA undertakes oil and gas sales; The role of the CPA's internal audit. The timing of the briefing was also discussed and it was agreed that the briefing should take place at the earliest opportunity, preferably to coincide with the Board's next meeting. Secretariat Functions It was agreed that for the time being an ad hoc Secretary to the Board be established instead of maintaining a full time staff. To that end, each of the member institution could have one of their staff to perform secretariat functions. It was however decided that all records would be kept in one central place - with the Chair. On the issue of the local professional staff, it was recognized that further action needed to be undertaken to identify a suitable candidate. Rules of Procedure The Board reiterated the need to set clear rules for dealing with press queries. It was also reiterated that, as a rule, the Chair would speak for the Board. At the same time, it would be left to individual members to use their judgment in answering routine factual queries. The drafting of Paragraph 3B (Public Disclosure) of the draft rules of procedure would be reviewed by the members from the World Bank and IMF. It was agreed that comments on the draft rules of procedure should be submitted as soon as possible. The members agreed to issue a press release highlighting the results of the meeting. The venue and date of the next meeting was to be determined at a later date, in the light of the briefing material to be provided by the CPA. An updated mailing list was requested by the Chair, and the issue of a logo for the IAMB was briefly discussed. The meeting was adjourned at 4:30 p.m.