New BRICS Development Bank may be operating by end-2015 – “open to all UN members”

BEIJING - China’s Vice-Finance Minister, Shi Yaobin, says the New Development Bank (NBD), formerly known as the BRICS Development Bank, with membership pioneered by Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa – will be operational “as early as the end of this year or the beginning of 2016”, with membership open for all United Nations members.

Shi confirmed that preparation work “is well under way” for establishment of the Bank, including creation of the lender’s articles of association to be approved by each nation’s legislature, establishment of the multilateral secretariat, and formulation of its mandate.

Additionally, it was announced on the Chinese Ministry of Finance’s website that the first meeting of the bank’s Board of Governors will be in early July during the BRICS summit in Russia, where members will formally appoint the bank’s President and vice-presidents.

Establishment of the bank was formally announced last year during the 6th BRICS summit in Fortaleza, Brazil. Shanghai was selected as the headquarters, with an African regional centre planned to be set up in Johannesburg. K.V. Kamath, who headed India’s leading private bank, ICICI, for more than 10 years, has been named as first President of the US$100 billion bank.
The New Development Bank will be a multilateral development bank operated as an alternative to the US-dominated World Bank and International Monetary Fund. Each member country will have one vote and none will have a veto vote, unlike the Wrld Bank, which assigns votes based on capital share. www.webershandwick.cn (ATI).