The Financial Systems Practice, Financial and Private Sector Development Vice Presidency of the World Bank has released on February 2012, in cooperation with the World Federation of Development Financing Institutions (WFDFI), its policy research working paper 5969 on the “Global Survey of Development Banks”. Authored by Messrs. José de Luna-Martínez and Carlos Leonardo Vicente, Senior Financial Economist and Financial Sector Specialist at the Financial and Private Sector Development Vice Presidency of the World Bank Group, respectively, and produced by the Research Support Team, the study examines how development banks (DBs) operate, what their policy mandates are, what financial services they offer, which type of clients

they target, how they are regulated and supervised, what business models they have adopted, what governance framework they have, and what challenges they face. It also examines the countercyclical role played by development banks during the recent financial crisis. The survey was based on new data that have been collected from 90 national development banks in 61 countries.

Of late, the World Bank has received an increasing number of requests for data and new studies about DBs, motivated by ongoing efforts in various countries to strengthen their own DBs by insulating them from undue political interference, transforming them into more profitable and financially self-sustainable organizations, and adopting innovative governance arrangements. In response to this demand, the World Bank and the WFDFI launched a survey to analyze the features and challenges faced by existing DBs, particularly those in low- and middle-income countries. The survey contained 72 questions grouped into seven specific areas: size, funding, business models and products, profitability and asset quality, corporate governance, regulation and supervision, and challenges. The survey was conducted between January and June 2011 with the members of the WFDFI, i.e., the regional associations of development banks in Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Middle East, as well as from Europe.

For a copy of the report, please click this link: http://www-wds.worldbank.org/external/default/WDSContentServer/IW3P/IB/2012/02/15/000158349_20120215153214/Rendered/PDF/WPS5969.pdf