Press Release No. 03/209

Press Release: Representatives of the Heads of the Arab Fund for Economic and Social Development, the International Monetary Fund, United Nations and the World Bank Schedule First Meeting of the International Advisory and Monitoring Board for Iraq

December 3, 2003

Representatives of the Heads of the Arab Fund for Economic and Social Development, the International Monetary Fund, United Nations and the World Bank Schedule First Meeting of the International Advisory and Monitoring Board for Iraq

The Arab Fund for Economic and Social Development, the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the United Nations, and the World Bank are pleased to announce that the first organizational meeting of the International Advisory and Monitoring Board (IAMB) of the Development Fund for Iraq is to take place on December 5, 2003.

To this effect, the following Representatives of the Heads of the member institutions of the IAMB have been named:

The International Monetary Fund: Mr. Bert E. Keuppens, Senior Advisor, Finance Department;
The United Nations: Mr. Jean-Pierre Halbwachs, Assistant Secretary General and Controller;
The World Bank: Mr. Fayezul Choudhury, Vice-President and Controller.
The Representative of the Head of the Arab Fund for Economic and Social Development is to be named shortly.

Each representative to the IAMB will have a designated alternate representative (see Annex).

The IAMB's Terms of Reference were agreed upon on October 21, 2003 by the four institutions.

The purpose of the IAMB is to promote the objectives set forth in U.N. Security Council resolution 1483 (2003) of ensuring that the Development Fund for Iraq (DFI) is used in a transparent manner for the purposes set out in operative paragraph 14 of the U.N. resolution, and that export sales of petroleum, petroleum products and natural gas from Iraq are made consistent with prevailing international market best practices.

December 3, 2003


ANNEX

Curriculum Vitae of IAMB Representatives and IAMB Alternate Representatives

· Bert E. Keuppens, Representative from the IMF

Mr. Bert E. Keuppens, a Belgian national, is Senior Advisor in the IMF Finance Department. He has held several positions in the IMF since 1982, including the position of chief accountant where he was responsible for the IMF's financial reporting process. He has conducted numerous Safeguards Assessment missions as mission chief where he was responsible for the conduct of due diligence reviews of central banks of countries that borrow from the IMF. Prior to joining the IMF, Mr. Keuppens held senior management positions in a large international audit firm, and he was a professor of accounting and auditing in a business school in Brussels. Mr. Keuppens holds graduate degrees in economics and business administration and is a Certified Public Accountant (Washington, D.C.).

· Chris Hemus, Alternate Representative from the IMF

Mr. Chris Hemus, a South African national, is the Deputy Chief of the Safeguards Assessment Division in the IMF Finance Department. The Safeguards Assessment Division conducts due diligence reviews of central banks of countries that borrow from the IMF. He has held several positions in the IMF Finance Department since 1995, and spent a year in 1997-98 in the Corporate Portfolio Management group of the International Finance Corporation (IFC). Prior to joining the IMF, Mr. Hemus was an Audit Manager with an international audit firm in South Africa and was involved with technical and accounting policy issues for all major clients. Mr. Hemus has graduate degrees in Accounting and Finance, is a Chartered Accountant, and a Chartered Financial Analyst.

· Jean-Pierre Halbwachs, Representative from the United Nations

Mr. Jean-Pierre Halbwachs, a national of Mauritius, assumed his current position as Assistant Secretary-General, Controller of the United Nations in 1997. He is responsible for the budgetary, accounting and financial policies and procedures, and for the exercise of financial control over the resources of the United Nations.

Mr. Halbwachs joined the United Nations in 1973. He has served in various positions at the United Nations in the administrative and financial field. He served as Chief of Administrative Services at the United Nations Environment Programmed in Nairobi, Kenya and was Director of the Programme Planning and Budget Division prior to assuming his current position. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Exeter.

· Jayantilal M. Karia, Alternate Representative from the United Nations

Mr. Jayantilal M. Karia, a Ugandan national, assumed his current position as Director of Accounts Division in the Office of Programme Planning, Budget and Accounts at the United Nations in May 1997. He is responsible for formulating accounting and financial policies, preparing the financial statements of over 200 funds maintained by the United Nations, including the Iraq Escrow Account established since 1996; consolidation of accounts from various offices of the United Nations; processing of financial transactions, disbursements to staff and vendors and supporting financial services provided to peacekeeping operations.

Since joining the United Nations in 1972, he has served in various managerial positions at the United Nations in financial, administrative and technological fields. Prior to assuming his current position, he was Deputy Director of the Accounts Division.

Mr. Karia holds a Master of Business Administration Degree (MBA) in accounting from Long Island University, New York. He is a member of the Institute of Management Accountants.

Mr. Karia currently chairs a United Nations inter-agency Task Force on Accounting Standards. He is also United Nations Observer at the Public Sector Committee of the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC). He also participates in a number of inter-governmental meetings as a resource person from the United Nations.

· Fayezul Choudhury, Representative from the World Bank

Mr. Fayezul Choudhury, a Bangladeshi national, assumed his current position as Vice President and Controller of the World Bank in September 2000.  He is responsible for the integrity of IBRD/IDA's financial reporting, adequacy of the internal control framework, strategic leadership on accounting, auditing and borrowing country financial management and accountability issues, processing of financial transactions, and supporting institutional information needs.

Since joining the World Bank group he has held managerial positions in the International Finance Corporation, the Loans Department and the Accounting Department.  Prior to assuming his current position, he was Director of the Accounting Department.  Before joining the World Bank, he was in public accounting and management consulting with one of the major professional firms in London.

Mr. Choudhury has an MA in Engineering Science and Economics from the University of Oxford.  He is also a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of England and Wales, a Member of the Institute of Management Consultants in the United Kingdom, and a Certified Government Financial Manager in the United States.

Mr. Choudhury's chairs the International Steering Committee of the International Forum for Accountancy Development and is a member of the Standards Advisory Council of the International Accounting Standards Board.  He is also a member of the Monitoring Group working with the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC) to create an International Public Oversight Board to oversee the standard setting activities of IFAC.

· Charles McDonough, Alternate Representative from the World Bank

Mr. Charles McDonough, a U.S. national, is currently the Director, Accounting Department, of the World Bank. He manages those units responsible for the Bank's external financial reporting, accounting policies, operational risks associated with financial disclosure, lending and trust fund accounting and client services, the Bank's accounting services center in Chennai, and the Bank's expense and capital accounting functions. Mr. McDonough is a member of the Bank's Asset and Liability Management Committee and has represented the Bank on numerous international accounting standard task forces associated with fair value accounting, and accounting for derivative transactions.

Before joining the Bank in 1993, Mr. McDonough was the Chief Accountant for the Inter-American Investment Corporation, where he was responsible for all facets of the corporation's accounting, external financial reporting and control operations. Prior to that he worked for Price Waterhouse, where he provided auditing and management consulting services for clients in the banking, manufacturing, and oil and gas industries. He is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants.