THE IMF HAS A strict code of ethics for thousands of staff – but its powerful board of directors are not covered by the same controls and can barely be disciplined under the organisation’s rules.
Any of the 2,400 employees of the fund can be investigated by an internal ethics advisor, with complaints leading to at least one firing last year, the New York Times reports. Details of such misconduct allegations are also published in an annual report.
However, the 24 people on the IMF’s board directors cannot be investigated in the same way – and the only disciplinary action the organisation can impose is to write a warning letter. Katrina Campbell, a corporate ethics expert, told the New York Times: “There are a lot of controls in place when it comes to the staff [at the IMF], but not for the leadership.”
The fund has been rocked by scandal since the arrest of its managing director Dominique Strauss-Kahn, who is charged with sexually assaulting a hotel maid in New York. The former French finance minister subsequently resigned his position.
Meanwhile, it’s emerged that lawyers for Mr Strauss-Kahn are likely to try and undermine the credibility of the hotel maid – a 32-year-old single mother from Guinea – when the case comes to court, according to the Wall Street Journal.
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