[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3224 Introduced in House (IH)]
<DOC>
119th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 3224
To enhance the operations and accountability of international financial
institutions, strengthen support for low-income countries, and promote
human rights and environmental standards in global financial projects.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
May 6, 2025
Ms. Waters (for herself and Mrs. Beatty) introduced the following bill;
which was referred to the Committee on Financial Services
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To enhance the operations and accountability of international financial
institutions, strengthen support for low-income countries, and promote
human rights and environmental standards in global financial projects.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``International Financial Institution
Improvements Act of 2025''.
SEC. 2. TABLE OF CONTENTS.
The table of contents of this Act is as follows:
Sec. 1. Short title.
Sec. 2. Table of contents.
TITLE I--INTERNATIONAL FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS
Sec. 101. Improvement of transparency in host nations.
Sec. 102. Collaboration with civil society organizations.
Sec. 103. United States leadership in debt forgiveness.
Sec. 104. Prohibition on withdrawal, or withholding of appropriated
funds, from international financial
institution without congressional consent.
TITLE II--MULTILATERAL DEVELOPMENT BANKS
Sec. 201. Amendment of the Articles of Agreement of the International
Bank for Reconstruction and Development.
Sec. 202. Aligning regulations for International Development
Association securities.
Sec. 203. United States coordination with the International Bank for
Reconstruction and Development on human
rights.
Sec. 204. Timeliness of project preparation and execution by the
International Bank for Reconstruction and
Development and the International
Development Association.
Sec. 205. Protections for human rights, including LGBTQ+ persons.
Sec. 206. IDA private sector lending window.
Sec. 207. World Bank support for Haiti development.
Sec. 208. World Bank feasibility study on a consortium bank in the
Caribbean region.
Sec. 209. Treasury report on accountability of the International
Finance Corporation regarding Bridge
Academies.
Sec. 210. Shipping transparency risk mitigation.
Sec. 211. World Bank support for efforts to deny safe havens for stolen
assets.
Sec. 212. Continuation of pause on World Bank disbursements and
commitments to Burma.
Sec. 213. Digital public infrastructure safeguards for international
financial institutions projects and
financing.
Sec. 214. Independent accountability mechanisms.
Sec. 215. Sexual exploitation and assault prevention.
Sec. 216. Publication of loan agreements.
Sec. 217. Enhancing transparency to combat corruption.
Sec. 218. Adoption of anti-reprisal standards.
Sec. 219. Reporting on human rights abuses in for-profit healthcare
investments.
Sec. 220. Combatting climate change.
Sec. 221. United States advocacy for investment in projects that
decrease reliance on Russia for
agricultural commodities.
Sec. 222. Urging the World Bank to eliminate harmful labor indicators
from its Business Ready Report.
Sec. 223. Database of direct assistance to countries.
TITLE III--INTERNATIONAL MONETARY FUND
Sec. 301. United States advocacy of debt suspension by International
Monetary Fund for low-income and small
countries that experience a climate-related
disaster.
Sec. 302. Loan conditionality.
Sec. 303. Anti-corruption measures in lending agreements.
Sec. 304. Fifth Deputy Managing Director.
Sec. 305. Resilience and Sustainability Trust financing.
Sec. 306. Quota increase.
Sec. 307. New Arrangements to Borrow.
Sec. 308. Annual report on surcharges.
TITLE IV--MULTILATERAL DEVELOPMENT BANK CAPITAL INCREASES
Sec. 401. African Development Fund replenishment.
Sec. 402. African Development Bank general callable capital increase.
Sec. 403. European Bank for Reconstruction and Development general
capital increase.
TITLE I--INTERNATIONAL FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS
SEC. 101. IMPROVEMENT OF TRANSPARENCY IN HOST NATIONS.
Title XV of the International Financial Institutions Act (22 U.S.C.
262o-262o-4) is amended by adding at the end the following:
``SEC. 1506. IMPROVEMENT OF TRANSPARENCY IN HOST NATIONS.
``The Secretary of the Treasury shall instruct the United States
Executive Director at each international financial institution (as
defined in section 1701(c)(2)) to encourage the respective institution
to publicize the nature and purpose of any project, loan, investment,
or other activity being pursued by the institution in any country, in
simple terms designed to increase the understanding of the citizens of
the country of the good work conducted by the institution and better
explain who will benefit from the activity.''.
SEC. 102. COLLABORATION WITH CIVIL SOCIETY ORGANIZATIONS.
(a) In General.--Title XV of the International Financial
Institutions Act (22 U.S.C. 262o-262o-4) is further amended by adding
at the end the following:
``SEC. 1507. COLLABORATION WITH CIVIL SOCIETY ORGANIZATIONS.
``(a) In General.--The Secretary of the Treasury shall instruct the
United States Executive Director at each international financial
institution (as defined in section 1701(c)(2)) to use the voice, vote,
and influence of the United States to work to develop policies, to be
approved by the Board of Executive Directors of the respective
institution following a wide and extensive consultation with civil
society, to require the staff of the institution to engage and consult
in meaningful ways with civil society organizations (which should
include women's rights organizations; organizations working on
economic, fiscal justice, and anti-corruption issues; and worker
representatives, including care workers).
``(b) Specific Policies.--
``(1) In general.--The policies developed pursuant to
subsection (a) should--
``(A) articulate mechanisms for how to engage in
different contexts and should be adapted to the purpose
of the engagement, and set clear timelines and dates
for consultations, taking into account project
timelines;
``(B) require mission chiefs to meet with a wide
range of stakeholders from civil society from
conceptualization through completion of the project or
loan involved;
``(C) should require the institution to set clear
parameters, dates, and mechanisms to conduct genuine
and meaningful consultations with civil society
organization policy in the different review processes,
and develop new policies and strategies.
``(2) International monetary fund.--In the case of the
International Monetary Fund, as the Fund identifies and builds
the work of the Fund on issues of critical importance to
macroeconomic trends and policies, such as inequality, climate
change, gender, and anti-corruption, the policies developed
pursuant to subsection (a) should also provide for increasing
engagement with civil society organizations with expertise in
those issues.
``(c) Solicitation of Views of Civil Society Organizations.--The
Secretary of the Treasury shall meet semiannually with a range of civil
society organizations to solicit the views of the organizations on
United States participation in and policies at the international
financial institutions (as so defined).''.
(b) Report.--Within 1 year after the date of the enactment of this
Act, the Secretary of the Treasury shall submit to the Committee on
Financial Services of the House of Representatives and the Committee on
Foreign Relations of the Senate a written report on the steps that the
United States has taken to encourage collaboration with civil society
organizations.
SEC. 103. UNITED STATES LEADERSHIP IN DEBT FORGIVENESS.
(a) Report to the Congress.--Within 180 days after the date of the
enactment of this Act, the Secretary of the Treasury shall submit to
the Committee on Financial Services of the House of Representatives and
the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate a written report that
contains an assessment of--
(1) the commonalities in successive debt-restructuring
challenges across the frameworks and forums in which the United
States participates, such as the types of debt relief that
countries are able to provide, the terms of debt relief, and
the reclassification of public debt as private debt by certain
creditors;
(2) the options available to provide debt relief to
developing countries with an intransigent creditor while
protecting United States taxpayer resources and ensuring that
United States taxpayer money is not being used to fund payments
to intransigent creditor nations;
(3) the oversight and policy priorities of the United
States in the negotiations in the debt-negotiation forums in
which the United States participates;
(4) the likelihood that low-income developing countries can
gain or retain access to private capital markets even if the
countries are in default on debt owed to sovereign creditors,
and how to increase that likelihood; and
(5) the implications for the economic and national security
interests of the United States of the extent to which the debt
of developing countries impedes or prevents the countries from
taking on additional debt to finance future projects.
(b) Advocation for Integration of Certain Elements in the IMF
Review of the Debt Sustainability Framework for Low-Income Countries.--
The Secretary of the Treasury shall instruct the United States
Executive Director at the International Monetary Fund to use the voice,
vote, and influence of the United States to strongly advocate for the
integration of the following elements in the review by the Fund of the
Debt Sustainability Framework for Low-Income Countries:
(1) Making ``informing debt restructuring processes'' an
explicit purpose of the Framework.
(2) Increasing the transparency of macroeconomic
assumptions used to inform sustainability estimates and the
rationale for the assumptions, including for projected gross
domestic product, exports, fiscal balance, fiscal balance
financing, and expected debt restructuring.
(3) Including investments identified in national plans to
meet the Sustainable Development Goals and the Nationally
Determined Contributions under the Paris Climate Agreement in
the fiscal balance projections and the impact of the
investments on economic growth.
(4) Ensuring that when debt restructuring is needed, it is
sufficient to lower such country to no more than a moderate
risk of debt distress even in medium-term stress scenarios.
(5) Increasing the severity of stress scenarios to
counteract the historical optimism bias of the Framework.
(6) Adding the ratio of total (external plus domestic)
public debt service to government revenue, as an indicator of
debt sustainability.
SEC. 104. PROHIBITION ON WITHDRAWAL, OR WITHHOLDING OF APPROPRIATED
FUNDS, FROM INTERNATIONAL FINANCIAL INSTITUTION WITHOUT
CONGRESSIONAL CONSENT.
Title XV of the International Financial Institutions Act (22 U.S.C.
262o-262o-4) is further amended by adding at the end the following:
``SEC. 1508. PROHIBITION ON WITHDRAWAL, OR WITHHOLDING OF APPROPRIATED
FUNDS, FROM INTERNATIONAL FINANCIAL INSTITUTION WITHOUT
CONGRESSIONAL CONSENT.
``Unless Congress by law authorizes such action, the United States
may not terminate participation in, or withdraw from, an international
financial institution (as defined in section 1701(c)(2) of the
International Financial Institutions Act), or withhold appropriated
funds required by law to be paid to such an institution.''.
TITLE II--MULTILATERAL DEVELOPMENT BANKS
SEC. 201. AMENDMENT OF THE ARTICLES OF AGREEMENT OF THE INTERNATIONAL
BANK FOR RECONSTRUCTION AND DEVELOPMENT.
The Bretton Woods Agreements Act (22 U.S.C. 286-286aaa) is
amended--
(1) by redesignating section 73 (as added by section 1901
of division P of Public Law 116-94) and section 74 as sections
74 and 75, respectively; and
(2) by adding at the end the following:
``SEC. 76. ACCEPTANCE OF AMENDMENT TO THE ARTICLES OF AGREEMENT OF THE
BANK.
``The United States Governor of the Bank may accept on behalf of
the United States an amendment to Articles of Agreement of the Bank to
delete Article III, Section 3, of the Articles of Agreement of the
Bank.''.
SEC. 202. ALIGNING REGULATIONS FOR INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT
ASSOCIATION SECURITIES.
(a) In General.--The International Development Association Act (22
U.S.C. 284-284cc) is amended by adding at the end the following:
``SEC. 32. EXEMPTION OF SECURITIES OF THE INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT
ASSOCIATION FROM THE SECURITIES LAWS.
``(a) Exemption From Securities Laws; Reports to Securities and
Exchange Commission.--Any securities issued by the Association
(including any guaranty by the Association, whether or not limited in
scope) and any securities guaranteed by the Association as to both
principal and interest shall be deemed to be exempted securities within
the meaning of section 3(a)(2) of the Securities Act of 1933 (15 U.S.C.
77c(a)(2)) and section 3(a)(12) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934
(15 U.S.C. 78c(a)(12)). The Association shall file with the Securities
and Exchange Commission such annual and other reports with regard to
such securities as the Commission shall determine to be appropriate in
view of the special character of the Association and its operations and
necessary in the public interest or for the protection of investors.
``(b) Authority of Securities and Exchange Commission To Suspend
Exemption; Reports to Congress.--The Securities and Exchange
Commission, acting in consultation with the National Advisory Council
on International Monetary and Financial Problems, is authorized to
suspend the provisions of subsection (a) of this section at any time as
to any or all securities issued or guaranteed by the Association during
the period of such suspension. The Commission shall include in its
annual reports to the Congress such information as it shall deem
advisable with regard to the operations and effect of this section.''.
(b) Effective Date.--The amendment made by subsection (a) shall
take effect 30 days after the date of the enactment of this Act.
SEC. 203. UNITED STATES COORDINATION WITH THE INTERNATIONAL BANK FOR
RECONSTRUCTION AND DEVELOPMENT ON HUMAN RIGHTS.
The Secretary of the Treasury shall direct the United States
Executive Director at the International Bank for Reconstruction and
Development--
(1) to use the voice, vote, and influence of the United
States to oppose the provision of support for any project that
has been turned down or withdrawn from by a department or
agency of the United States due to environmental, social, or
human rights concerns, unless the head of the department or
agency, as the case may be, verifies to the United States
Executive Director that all such concerns have been adequately
resolved; and
(2) to inform the Committee on Financial Services of the
House of Representatives and the Committee on Finance of the
Senate whenever the Bank agrees to provide support for any
project that has been turned down or withdrawn from by such a
department or agency.
SEC. 204. TIMELINESS OF PROJECT PREPARATION AND EXECUTION BY THE
INTERNATIONAL BANK FOR RECONSTRUCTION AND DEVELOPMENT AND
THE INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT ASSOCIATION.
(a) Use of Voice, Vote, and Influence of the United States.--The
Secretary of the Treasury shall direct the United States Executive
Directors at the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development
and the International Development Association to use the voice, vote,
and influence of the United States to assess the cause of bottlenecks
and identify potential efficiencies in project preparation and
execution by the Bank and the Association.
(b) Report on Bottlenecks and Potential Efficiencies.--Within 180
days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of the
Treasury shall submit to the Committee on Financial Services of the
House of Representatives and the Committee on Finance of the Senate a
report that describes the findings of the United States Executive
Directors at the Bank and the Association regarding bottlenecks and
potential efficiencies referred to in subsection (a).
(c) Report on Addressing Bottlenecks and Capitalizing on Potential
Efficiencies.--Within 180 days after the date of the submission of the
report required by subsection (b), the Secretary of the Treasury shall
submit to the Committee on Financial Services of the House of
Representatives and the Committee on Finance of the Senate a report
that describes how the Secretary and the United States Executive
Directors at the Bank and the Association are actively working to
address any such bottlenecks and capitalize on any such potential
efficiencies.
SEC. 205. PROTECTIONS FOR HUMAN RIGHTS, INCLUDING LGBTQ+ PERSONS.
(a) In General.--The Secretary of the Treasury shall direct the
United States Executive Directors at the International Bank for
Reconstruction and Development and the African Development Bank to use
the voice and vote of the United States to oppose the provision by the
respective bank of financial assistance for a project in any country
that engages in human rights abuses, including of persons who identify
as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, or questioning, or
another diverse gender identity, as reported by the Department of State
in the Annual Country Reports on Human Rights Practices, unless the
bank makes public the details of how the project would be widely
inclusive for the groups that the report has identified as
marginalized.