The International Working Group’s meeting in Kuwait just wrapped up. The result: the IWG will transition into the International Forum of Sovereign Wealth Funds (Forum). Indeed, recognizing that the Santiago Principles were a work in progress, the IWG saw the ongoing need for exchanging views and experience. The Forum–which is not a formal supranational authority and shall not have any legal force–will meet at least once a year and facilitate dialogue among funds as well as recipient countries, the European Commission, the OECD, representatives of other multilateral organizations, and the private sector. According to the Kuwait Declaration:
“The Forum will act as a platform for:
1 – exchanging ideas and views among SWFs and with other relevant parties. These will cover, inter alia, issues such as trends and developments pertaining to SWF activities, risk management, investment regimes, market and institutional conditions affecting investment operations, and interactions with the economic and financial stability framework;
2 – sharing views on the application of the Santiago Principles including operational and technical matters; and
3 – encouraging cooperation with investment recipient countries, relevant international organizations, and capital market functionaries to identify potential risks that may affect cross-border investments, and to foster a non-discriminatory, constructive and mutually beneficial investment environment.”
The Forum’s leadership has already been elected, with Mr. David Murray, Chairman of Australia’s Future Fund Board of Guardians, the first Forum Chair. Mr. Jin Liqun of the China Investment Corporation and Mr. Bader Mohammad Al-Sa’ad of the Kuwait Investment Authority were also elected to be deputy chairs of the Forum.
This is an interesting development: The Forum will be an industry group of sorts with a more permanent mandate than the IWG.
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