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Development Banks Act 2005

Current text a fecha 2005-12-21

1 Definitions.

1.—In this Act, except where the context otherwise requires—

“Act of 1957” means the Bretton Woods Agreements Act 1957;

“Act of 1960” means the International Development Association Act 1960;

“Act of 1988” means the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency Act 1988;

“Act of 1991” means the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development Act 1991;

“Act of 2004” means the Council of Europe Development Bank Act 2004;

“Agreement” means the Articles of Agreement made on 4 December 1965 establishing the Asian Development Bank, the text of which is set out in the Schedule to this Act, and any amendments to the Agreement which are approved by Dáil Éireann pursuant to Article 29.5.2 of the Constitution;

“Bank” means the Asian Development Bank established by the Agreement.

2 Approval of terms of Agreement.

2.—(1) The terms of the Agreement are hereby approved.

(2) The Minister for Finance shall cause notice of the approval by Dáil Éireann, pursuant to Article 29.5.2 of the Constitution, of an amendment to the Agreement to be published in the Iris Oifigiúil as soon as may be after its approval.

3 Financial and other provisions.

3.—(1) Payments under the Agreement in respect of subscription to the Bank, as and when such payments become appropriate to be made on behalf of the State, shall be made out of the Central Fund or the growing produce thereof.

(2) Any moneys received on behalf of the State from the Bank shall be placed to the credit of the account of the Exchequer and shall form part of the Central Fund and be available in any manner in which that Fund is available.

(3) The Central Bank and Financial Services Authority of Ireland shall act as a depository for the holdings in Euro and other assets of the Bank.

(4) This section comes into operation on the day on which the State becomes a member of the Bank in accordance with the terms of the Agreement.

4 Amendment of Act of 1991.

4.—(1) Section 1 of the Act of 1991 is amended in the definition of “the Agreement”—

(a) by inserting “, as amended by resolution adopted on 30 January 2004 by the Board of Governors of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development” after “on the 29th day of May 1990”, and

(b) by inserting “, and any amendments to the Agreement which are or have been approved by Dáil Éireann pursuant to Article 29.5.2 of the Constitution” after “set out in the Schedule to this Act)”,

and the said definition, as so amended, is set out in the Table to this subsection.

TABLE

“the Agreement” means the Agreement establishing the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development done at Paris on the 29th day of May 1990, as amended by resolution adopted on 30 January 2004 by the Board of Governors of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (the text of which, in the English language, is, for convenience of reference, set out in the Schedule to this Act), and any amendments to the Agreement which are or have been approved by Dáil Éireann pursuant to Article 29.5.2 of the Constitution;

(2) Section 2 of the Act of 1991 is amended, with effect from the passing of this Act—

(a) by re-numbering that section as subsection (1) of that section, and

(b) by inserting after subsection (1) the following subsection:

“(2) The Minister for Finance shall cause notice of the approval by Dáil Éireann, pursuant to Article 29.5.2 of the Constitution, of an amendment to the Agreement to be published in the Iris Oifigiúil as soon as may be after its approval.”.

(3) The Schedule to the Act of 1991 is amended by substituting the following Article for Article 1 of the Agreement (within the meaning of that Act):

“Article 1

Purpose

In contributing to economic progress and reconstruction, the purpose of the Bank shall be to foster the transition towards open market oriented economies and to promote private and entrepreneurial initiative in the Central and Eastern European countries committed to and applying the principles of multiparty democracy, pluralism and market economics. The purpose of the Bank may also be carried out in Mongolia subject to the same conditions. Accordingly, any reference in this Agreement and its annexes to ‘Central and Eastern European countries’, ‘countries from central and Eastern Europe’, ‘recipient country (or countries)’ or ‘recipient member country (or countries)’ shall refer to Mongolia as well.”.

5 Amendment of Act of 1957.

5.—(1) Section 1 of the Act of 1957 is amended—

(a) in the definition of “the Fund Agreement” by inserting “, and any amendments to the Agreement which are or have been approved by Dáil Éireann pursuant to Article 29.5.2. of the Constitution” after “set out in Part I of the Schedule to this Act”, and the said definition, as so amended, is set out in the Table to this subsection, and

(b) in the definition of “the Bank Agreement” by inserting “, and any amendments to the Agreement which are or have been approved by Dáil Éireann pursuant to Article 29.5.2 of the Constitution” after “set out in Part II of the Schedule to this Act”, and the said definition, as so amended, is set out in the Table to this subsection.

TABLE

“the Bank Agreement” means the agreement, for the establishment and operation of an international body to be called the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, which was drawn up at the United Nations Monetary and Financial Conference held at Bretton Woods in New Hampshire in the United States of America in July, 1944, and of which the text of the Articles is set out in Part II of the Schedule to this Act, and any amendments to the Agreement which are or have been approved by Dáil Éireann pursuant to Article 29.5.2 of the Constitution; “the Fund Agreement” means the agreement, for the establishment and operation of an international body to be called the International Monetary Fund, which was drawn up at the United Nations Monetary and Financial Conference held at Bretton Woods in New Hampshire in the United States of America in July, 1944, and of which the text of the Articles is set out in Part I of the Schedule to this Act, and any amendments to the Agreement which are or have been approved by Dáil Éireann pursuant to Article 29.5.2 of the Constitution;

(2) Section 2 of the Act of 1957 is amended, with effect from the passing of this Act—

(a) by re-numbering that section as subsection (1) of that section, and

(b) by inserting the following subsection after subsection (1):

6 Amendment of Act of 1960.

6.—(1) Section 1 of the Act of 1960 is amended in the definition of “the Agreement” by inserting “, and any amendments to the Agreement which are or have been approved by Dáil Éireann pursuant to Article 29.5.2 of the Constitution” after “set out in the Schedule to this Act”, and the said definition, as so amended, is set out in the Table to this subsection.

TABLE

“the Agreement” means the agreement, for the establishment and operation of an international body to be called the International Development Association, of which the text of the Articles is set out in the Schedule to this Act, and any amendments to the Agreement which are or have been approved by Dáil Éireann pursuant to Article 29.5.2 of the Constitution;

(2) Section 2 of the Act of 1960 is amended, with effect from the passing of this Act—

(a) by re-numbering that section as subsection (1) of that section, and

(b) by inserting the following subsection after subsection (1):

“(2) the Minister for Finance shall cause notice of the approval by Dáil Éireann, pursuant to Article 29.5.2 of the Constitution, of an amendment to the Agreement to be published in the Iris Oifigiúil as soon as may be after its approval.”.

7 Amendment of Act of 1988.

7.—(1) Section 1 of the Act of 1988 is amended in the definition of “the Convention” by inserting “, and any amendments to the Convention which are or have been approved by Dáil Éireann pursuant to Article 29.5.2 of the Constitution” after “the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency”, and the said definition, as so amended, is set out in the Table to this subsection.

TABLE

“the Convention” means the Convention (the text of which is set out in the Schedule to this Act) providing for the establishment and operation of the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency, and any amendments to the Convention which are or have been approved by Dáil Éireann pursuant to Article 29.5.2 of the Constitution;

(2) Section 2 of the Act of 1988 is amended, with effect from the passing of this Act—

(a) by re-numbering that section as subsection (1) of that section, and

(b) by inserting the following subsection after subsection (1):

8 Amendment of Act of 2004.

8.—(1) Section 1 of the Act of 2004 is amended in the definition of “Agreement” by inserting “, and any amendments to the Agreement which are or have been approved by Dáil Éireann pursuant to Article 29.5.2. of the Constitution” after “set out in Schedule 1 to this Act”, and the said definition, as so amended, is set out in the Table to this subsection.

TABLE

“Agreement” means the Articles of Agreement of the Council of Europe Development Bank, the text of which is set out in Schedule 1 to this Act, and any amendments to the Agreement which are or have been approved by Dáil Éireann pursuant to Article 29.5.2 of the Constitution;

(2) Section 2 of the Act of 2004 is amended, with effect from the passing of this Act—

(a) by re-numbering that section as subsection (1) of that section, and

(b) by inserting the following subsection after subsection (1):

9 Short title.

9.—This Act may be cited as the Development Banks Act 2005.

SCHEDULE AGREEMENT ESTABLISHING THE ASIAN DEVELOPMENT BANK

NOTES

(i) As provided in Article 65, the Agreement came into force on 22 August 1966.

(ii) Certain printing errors in the original text deposited with the Secretary-General of the United Nations were formally corrected in a Process-Verbal of Rectification issued by the Secretary-General on 17 November 1967. These corrections have been incorporated in the present publication.

(iii) In accordance with Article 66, the Inaugural Meeting was held at Tokyo from 24 to 26 November 1966 and pursuant to Resolution No. 9 of the Board of Governors, the Bank commenced operations on 19 December 1966.

(iv) With regard to Articles 4 and 5, the authorized capital stock was increased: (a) by $100 million to $1,100 million (Resolution No. 10 of the Board of Governors); (b) by $1,650 million to $2,750 million (Resolution No. 46 of the Board of Governors); (c) by $40 million to $2,790 million (Resolution No. 55 of the Board of Governors); (d) by $137.5 million to $2,927.5 million (Resolution No. 79 of the Board of Governors); (e) by $50 million to $2,977.5 million (Resolution No. 80 of the Board of Governors); (f) by $70 million to $3,047.5 million (Resolution No. 89 of the Board of Governors); (g) by $25.1 million to $3,072.6 million (Resolution No. 100 of the Board of Governors); (h) by $4,148 million to $7,220.6 million (Resolution No. 104 of the Board of Governors); (i) by $7,547.5 million to $14,768.1 million (Resolution No. 158 of the Board of Governors); (j) by $295.2 million to $15,063.3 million (Resolution No. 174 of the Board of Governors); (k) by $1,140 million to $16,203.3 million (Resolution No. 176 of the Board of Governors); (l) by $621.9 million to $16,825.2 million (Resolution No. 192 of the Board of Governors); (m) by $0.5 million to $16,825.7 million (Resolution No. 201 of the Board of Governors); (n) by $0.7 million to $16,826.4 million (Resolution No. 202 of the Board of Governors); (o) by $60.2 million to $16,886.6 million (Resolution No. 205 of the Board of Governors); (p) by $2.7 million to $16,889.3 million (Resolution No. 206 of the Board of Governors); (q) by $0.7 million to $16,890.0 million (Resolution No. 212 of the Board of Governors); (r) by $0.2 million to $16,890.2 million (Resolution No. 219 of the Board of Governors); (s) by $142.7 million to $17,032.9 million (Resolution No. 224 of the Board of Governors); (t) by $52.9 million to $17,085.8 million (Resolution No. 225 of the Board of Governors); and (u) by $17,705.0 million to $34,790.8 million (Resolution No. 232 of the Board of Governors).

(v) With regard to Article 30, with effect from the Fourth Annual Meeting of the Board of Governors, the size of the Board of Directors was increased to twelve (12) members, eight (8) members elected by the Governors representing regional member countries and four (4) members elected by the Governors representing non-regional member countries (Resolution No. 27 as amended by Resolution No. 37 of the Board of Governors).

(vi) The members of the Bank and their subscriptions to the authorized capital stock, as of 31 December 1994, are listed in the footnote to Annex A on pages 43 and 44.

Chapter		Page
I	PURPOSE, FUNCTIONS AND MEMBERSHIP	10
II	CAPITAL	11
III	OPERATIONS	14
IV	BORROWING AND OTHER MISCELLANEOUS POWERS	21
V	CURRENCIES	22
VI	ORGANIZATION AND MANAGEMENT	24
VII	WITHDRAWAL AND SUSPENSION OF MEMBERS, TEMPORARY SUSPENSION AND TERMINATION OF OPERATIONS OF THE BANK	30
VIII	STATUS, IMMUNITIES, EXEMPTIONS AND PRIVILEGES	33
IX	AMENDMENTS, INTERPRETATION, ARBITRATION	36
X	FINAL PROVISIONS	37
ANNEX A	INITIAL SUBSCRIPTIONS TO THE AUTHORIZED CAPITAL STOCK FOR COUNTRIES WHICH MAY BECOME MEMBERS IN ACCORDANCE WITH ARTICLE 64	39
ANNEX B	ELECTION OF DIRECTORS	42

AGREEMENT ESTABLISHING THE ASIAN DEVELOPMENT BANK

THE CONTRACTING PARTIES

CONSIDERING the importance of closer economic co-operation as a means for achieving the most efficient utilization of resources and for accelerating the economic development of Asia and the Far East;

REALIZING the significance of making additional development financing available for the region by mobilizing such funds and other resources both from within and outside the region, and by seeking to create and foster conditions conducive to increased domestic savings and greater flow of development funds into the region;

RECOGNIZING the desirability of promoting the harmonious growth of the economies of the region and the expansion of external trade of member countries;

CONVINCED that the establishment of a financial institution that is Asian in its basic character would serve these ends;

HAVE AGREED to establish hereby the Asian Development Bank (hereinafter called the “Bank”) which shall operate in accordance with the following: