Accountability and Transparency
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Executive Board committees and governance
- General purpose: Committees examine issues in greater detail and forward matters requiring further discussion to the full Board; only the full Board has decision-making authority.
- Reconstitution and composition:
- Reconstituted every two years following the regular election cycle for Executive Directors.
- Composition considerations: geographic and gender balance; need for rotation with some continuity; reasonable distribution of committee workload among Executive Directors.
- Executive Directors may participate in all committee meetings except the Ethics Committee, whose meetings are restricted to members and the permanent secretary of the committee.
- The Executive Board has established a Working Group on Gender Diversity as an advisory body to support progress on gender representation and inclusion in the Executive Board.
- Committee mandates:
- Committee on Agenda and Board Procedures (APC): Recommend procedures for timely document distribution, conduct of Board meetings, timing, logistics, and related matters to avoid bunching in the Board’s schedule and enable efficient use of Board meeting time.
- Committee on Executive Board Administrative Matters (CAM): Consider and report on general administrative policy relating to Executive Directors, Alternates, Senior Advisors, Advisors, and Administrative Assistants; consider individual cases upon request; develop and report budgetary proposals for aggregate and individual Offices of Executive Directors.
- Ethics Committee (EC): Comprised of five Executive Directors; considers matters relating to the Executive Board’s Code of Conduct; provides guidance on ethical aspects of conduct; advises on standards of ethical conduct as applied to the Managing Director pursuant to the Managing Director’s contract. Selection: Chairperson, four members, and five alternate members selected on the occasion of a general election of Executive Directors; serve for two years. Vacancies are filled by Executive Board selection to complete the remainder of the term.
- Evaluation Committee (EVC): Follow the evaluation function and advise the Executive Board on matters relating to evaluations, including those of the IEO; consider the Annual Report with ad hoc staff membership.
- Committee on Liaison with the World Bank and Other International Organizations (LC): Take stock of developments in policies and programs of other international organizations with complementary mandates (in particular the World Bank and the World Trade Organization); gather information and maintain close liaison; make recommendations regarding Fund relations with these organizations.
- Pension Committee (PC): Decide matters of general policy under the Staff Retirement Plan and related matters; membership: Managing Director, ex officio; four Executive Directors elected biennially; one staff member appointed by the Managing Director; one staff member elected biennially by participants.
- Ad Hoc Audit Selection Committee (ASC): Convened to recommend suitable candidates for the External Audit Committee whose staggered three-year appointments leave a vacancy every year. Traditionally comprised of five Executive Directors.
- Working Group on Gender Diversity: Promote enhanced representation of women on the Board and in Senior Advisors and Advisors in Offices of Executive Directors; develop recommendations on evolving gender diversity strategy; promote the strategy and report progress regularly to the Executive Board for referral to the Board of Governors.
Audit, internal controls, and risk oversight
- Audit framework:
- The IMF conducts audits of all its operations using an external audit firm, the independent External Audit Committee, and the Office of Internal Audit (OIA).
- The External Audit Committee is independent of the IMF and its Executive Board; reports to the Board of Governors; has general oversight responsibilities for the annual external audit of the IMF’s financial statements and the internal audit framework.
- Office of Internal Audit (OIA):
- Independent assurance and advisory function reporting directly to the Managing Director and maintaining a functional reporting relationship with the External Audit Committee.
- Mandate: (1) assess the effectiveness of the IMF’s governance, risk management, and internal controls; and (2) act as a consultant for improvement of business processes by advising on best practices.
- 2026 audit coverage included: management of the IMF’s Investment Account and Trust Investment Assets; administrative aspects in connection with the IMF’s Long-Term Technical Assistance Experts; departmental practices for safeguarding the IMF’s “Crown Jewels”; and the IMF’s procurement process and practices.
- Issued the “Fifteenth Periodic Monitoring Report (PMR) on the Status of Management Implementation Plans in Response to Board-Endorsed Independent Evaluation Office Recommendations.” The implementation rate was comparable to that of the 14th PMR and exceeded the average over the past seven PMR monitoring cycles.
- Office of Risk Management (ORM) and Enterprise Risk Management (ERM):
- ORM performs centralized enterprise risk management and serves as the second line of defense.
- Provides independent oversight and challenge of first-line risk assessments; implements the ERM framework and Board-approved risk tolerance statements.
- Benefits: greater clarity and consistency in risk practices; enhanced accountability and transparency in risk oversight; more structured, institution-wide approach to managing risks.
- ERM role: aggregate risks across the institution and provide forward-looking analysis to support management and the Executive Board in making informed, risk-aware decisions.
Financial protection: precautionary balances and reviews
- Purpose: Precautionary balances (adjusted balances in the general and special reserves) are a key element of the multilayered framework for managing financial risk and safeguarding members’ resources; provide a buffer against potential losses from credit, income, and other financial risks; help protect the value of reserve assets represented by member countries’ positions and underpin the exchange of assets through which the IMF provides financial assistance.
- Targets and status:
- Medium-term precautionary balances target: SDR 25 billion — reached at the end of FY 2024.
- The Executive Board conducted the “2026 Review of the Adequacy of the Fund’s Precautionary Balances” on March 20, 2026.
- Directors broadly agreed that the current target of precautionary balances, together with other elements of the IMF’s financial risk management framework and the International Financial Reporting Standard 9 provisioning framework, continue to provide a robust level of financial protection for the IMF’s balance sheet and creditor claims.
- Most Directors supported retaining the current medium-term target at SDR 25 billion; a few Directors favored raising the target.
- Directors generally agreed to retain the current floor for precautionary balances at SDR 20 billion.
- As of April 30, 2026, precautionary balances stood at SDR 26.3 billion (US$36.1 billion).
Safeguards and fiscal safeguards
- Safeguards assessments for central banks:
- Purpose: Establish reasonable assurance that a country’s central bank can appropriately manage IMF resources and provide reliable monetary data under an IMF-supported program.
- Six assessment areas: (1) governance arrangements, (2) external audit mechanism, (3) legal structure and autonomy, (4) financial reporting framework, (5) internal audit mechanism, and (6) system of internal controls.
- From 2000 to the end of April 2026: 414 assessments conducted, covering 106 central banks.
- FY 2026 status: four assessments completed, eight assessments in progress at the end of the financial year.
- Monitoring: Progress monitored as long as IMF credit remains outstanding; about 73 central banks are currently subject to monitoring.
- Outreach: During FY 2026, three regional seminars were held covering leading international practices in safeguards framework areas, including topical issues in central bank operations.
- Fiscal safeguards reviews of state treasuries:
- Conducted when a member requests exceptional access, whenever a substantial portion of funds—at least 25 percent—is directed toward financing the state budget, and whenever there is high combined credit exposure with at least 25 percent of resources directed to budget financing.
- FY 2026 status: one fiscal safeguards review completed, and one in progress at the end of FY 2026.
Independent Evaluation Office (IEO)
- Role: Conduct independent and objective evaluations of IMF policies and operations; fully independent of IMF management and staff; operates at arm’s length from the Executive Board.
- FY 2026 activities:
- Completed evaluation: “IMF Advice on Fiscal Policy.”
- Ongoing evaluations: “The IMF and Climate Change” and “IMF Engagement on Debt Issues in Low-Income Countries.”
- Published first Evaluation Policy to reflect and update the foundational framework guiding its work.
- Announced two new evaluations to launch in 2026: “IMF Advice on Monetary Policy” and “Political Economy Considerations in IMF Work.”
Ethics, training, and stakeholder engagement
- Ethics framework and Ethics Office (ETO):
- Under the 2026 IMF Ethics Advisor—Terms of Reference, the Ethics Advisor, as Head of the Ethics Office, advises management and the Human Resources Department on promotion of ethical standards; provides information, training, outreach, and confidential ethics advice and guidance to IMF personnel.
- ETO responsibilities: Oversee the Annual Ethical Conduct and Core Values Certification and the Financial Disclosure Program for IMF Staff; serve as the Designated Officer for institutional conflicts of interest.
- FY 2026: ETO relaunched triennial IMF-wide mandatory ethics training and responded to significantly higher demand for ad hoc ethics training at IMF headquarters and overseas.
- External engagement:
- The IMF meets regularly with political leaders and country authorities and routinely engages with private sector representatives, the media, and nongovernment stakeholders such as the academic community, civil society organizations, parliamentarians, labor unions, and youth leaders.
- Such two-way communication allows the IMF to both explain its approaches and learn from others to improve its policy advice.
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