World Bank

The World Bank is a broad term for the World Bank Group, a multinational development bank based in the US capital Washington, DC. The World Bank Group’s original purpose was to finance the reconstruction of countries devastated by the Second World War.

The World Bank Group comprises the following five organizations, each with its own legal personality :

• International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD; the World Bank in the narrower sense)
• International Development Association (IDA)
• International Finance Corporation (IFC)
• Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA)
• International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID)

The organizations of the World Bank Group are linked by administrative links and by a common President (in the case of ICSID, as Chairman of the Board of Directors).