Annamaria Viterbo

International Economic Law and Monetary Measures

The 2007–2010 global financial crisis re-opened the debate on the reform of the international monetary and financial system. This well-argued book demonstrates the strategic role of international economic law in ensuring international monetary stability and global financial stability.

Financial Challenges to Solidarity: Building the European Banking Union in Times of Crisis

The purpose of this chapter is to single out the features of the European Banking Union that are most problematic to achieve solidarity among Member States. The focus will be on three elements of the European Banking Union where solidarity proves particularly difficult to be achieved: the Single Resolution Fund, the direct recapitalisation instrument of the European Stability Mechanism and the European Deposit Insurance Scheme.

Implementation of the Duty of Care by the World Bank

The objective of this chapter is to assess how the organizations of the World Bank Group implement the duty of care owed to personnel who are performing official tasks, or on assignment, outside the Washington DC headquarters. The first section of this chapter analyzes the WB Group’s internal law on rights and obligations of the Bank and its staff, as fashioned by the jurisprudence of the World Bank Administrative Tribunal, and its scope of application. The second section examines in more detail how the various aspects of the duty of care obligation are addressed within the WB Group, focusing in particular on: non-discrimination, health and safety of the personnel, information on potential dangers and adequate training, specific challenges and threats, effective medical services after an incident has occurred, and the exercise of functional protection. The final section gives a brief overview of the WB Group’s internal administrative procedures established to address personnel’s requests and complaints.

The Role of the International Financial Institutions in Fragile and Conflict-Affected Countries

Starting from Paul Collier’s assumption that ‘economic development may be the true exit strategy for international peacekeeping’, the chapter describes the evolution of the international financial institutions’ engagement with fragile and conflict-affected States (FCSs).

Multiregionalism in the Context of the EU Sovereign Debt Crisis: Current Legal Challenges and the Way Forward

The purpose of this article is to investigate the challenges posed by multiregionalism in the context of monetary and financial cooperation. The definition of “multiregionalism” was provided by Bjorn Hettne to describe a multilayered order of systematic relations among regional organizations and between the latter and international organizations.

Dispute Settlement Over Exchange Measures Affecting Trade and Investments: The Overlapping Jurisdictions of the IMF, WTO, and the ICSID

One of the risks that international economic law is facing is the inability to give consistent answers to actual needs. Coherence, consistency and predictability of international law rules are particularly relevant in a global world and market, where private actors are increasingly gaining importance. All the fields of international economic law are so intertwined that reaching consistent interpretations is particularly difficult. The overlapping of areas of competence among the main organizations can lead to disruptive conflicts of norms, as well as to excessive fragmentation or sectoralisation. This is clearly observable in international monetary law, where litigations over monetary measures have been brought before other fora because the IMF does not provide for a mechanism to settle international disputes.To ensure coherence and to avoid the coming into existence of conflicting rights and obligations for States which have ratified the same treaties, substantial and procedural linkages have been inserted in a number of provisions. The need for coordination among different treaties is particularly felt for exchange controls and restrictions which affect the functioning of the international monetary system and the world of trade and investment. The purpose of this paper is to evaluate how exchange restrictions and controls are treated within the IMF, WTO and ICSID legal systems, and the degree of consistency of interpretation. After a brief overview of the international system as envisioned after World War II and of the various types of exchange measures, this paper will first analyze how the International Monetary Fund deals with exchange controls and restrictions. It will then examine the current legal aspects of the relationship between the monetary and trade systems, the GATT and GATS safeguard clauses on exchange restrictions consistent with IMF obligations, as well as the panels and Appellate Body decisions on monetary measures affecting trade. Lastly, it will consider how investment treaties take into account exchange restrictions on repatriation of profits and transfer of funds, and how the relative safeguard clauses are structured. An evaluation of the actual role of balance-of-payments clauses is eventually proposed.