Sovereign wealth funds : Fonds souverains : réactions canadiennes et internationales sur le plan des politiques

To this end, both the IMF and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) worked with the International Working Group of Sovereign Wealth Funds (IWG), a newly formed group of SWF investors, to address concerns surrounding the rise in influence of SWFs. [...] L I B R A R Y. O F. P A R L I A M E N T B I B L I O T H È Q U E. D U. P A R L E M E N T 4 In October 2008, the IWG with the assistance of the IMF established a set of voluntary guidelines outlining a set of general policies called the Generally Accepted Principles and Practices (GAPP), or the “Santiago Principles.” These comprise 24 principles aimed at addressing key areas of concern such as the s [...] Their overriding purpose is to ensure proper governance of these funds and to ensure that their investment practices are “prudent and sound.” Among the 24 principles is a requirement for the public disclosure of “policies, rules, procedures, or arrangements in relation to the SWF’s general approach to funding, withdrawal, and spending operations.”8 Time will tell if the Santiago Principles lead to [...] It was reported that the issue of financial transparency was the most debated issue within the IWG during the development of the principles.9 Roughly six months after the release of the Santiago Principles, the IWG changed its name to the International Forum of Sovereign Wealth Funds (IFSWF). [...] It is a member of the IFSWF because of the Alberta Heritage Savings Fund, which ranks roughly among the top 30 SWFs in the world in terms of asset size.