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The following members of the IAMB were present:
Arab Fund for Economic and Social Development: Mr. Khalifa Ali Dau, Senior
Financial Advisor
International Monetary Fund: Mr. Bert E. Keuppens, Senior Advisor
Interim Government of Iraq: Advisor, Ministry of Finance
United Nations: Mr. Jean-Pierre Halbwachs, Assistant Secretary-General, Controller
World Bank: Mr. Fayezul Choudhury, Vice-President and Controller
Observer: Mr. Cameron Leuthy, US Department of Defense
Also in attendance were the following:
Arab Fund for Economic and Social Development:
Ms. Maysoun Abusitta, Assistant Researcher
International Monetary Fund:
Mr. Chris Hemus, Deputy Division Chief, Finance Department
Interim Government of Iraq:
Alternate member: Chartered Accountant/Auditor
United Nations:
Mr. Teklay Afeworki, Senior Finance Officer
Mr. Moses Bamuwamye, Finance Officer
World Bank:
Ms. Caroline Harper, Lead Operations Officer
The meeting was opened by the Chair.
- The agenda for the meeting was unanimously adopted.
- The members reviewed the revised rules of procedure and the amended Terms of Reference in response to UNSCR 1546 (2004), which they expect to finalize shortly.
External Audit of the DFI
- A representative from KPMG presented a briefing on the status of the on going audit of the DFI for the Period 01 January to 30 June 2004. There have been delays in obtaining access from a number of Iraqi ministries. In spite of this, the audit will be completed according to the agreed timeline, with some delay acceptable if KPMG is able to obtain access to the remaining ministries in the near term.
- It was agreed that the Chair would contact the relevant entities to facilitate KPMG's access to the ministries and agencies, in particular to the transfers made to the Kurdish Regional Government.
- The IAMB followed up on the status of the Arabic translation of the audit reports.
- The Board also reviewed the Statement of Work (SOW) for the 01 July–31 December 2004 audit of the DFI.
- It was agreed that the draft SOW would be forwarded to the Government of Iraq in late September, with a target date of early December for the award of the contract.
Frozen Assets
- The Iraqi Member informed the Board that individual countries were offsetting the liabilities against the frozen assets prior to depositing only the net balance in the DFI.
- TheIAMB was informed that the recommendations from the previous audit had been submitted to the Ministry of Finance, who in turn will submit them to the Council of Ministers.
- Following up on its advisory role, the Board was informed that an audit of the Central Bank of Iraq, which has a bearing on the operation of the DFI, was required by law. In this regard, it was noted that the IMF's safeguards policy for financial assistance requires central banks to be independently audited by suitably qualified and experienced external auditors.
Update on the Status of the Special Audit
- The IAMB was briefed on the progress of the special audit of sole sourced contracts. The process had been restarted. The SOW for the sole sourced contracts is expected to be issued by the Government of Iraq by the end of October.
- The IAMB reviewed the findings of the CPA Inspector General Report to US Congress of July 2004 and noted that the finding were broadly consistent with the findings reported by KPMG.
- The IAMB inquired again about reports on audits undertaken by various US agencies on sole-sourced contracts, including those by the U.S. Department of Defense, which, despite repeated requests it had not obtained. The IAMB expressed its strong concern with these delays that hamper fulfilment of its mandate.
Press Release
- The IAMB agreed to issue a press release at the end of its meeting and to subsequently post it on the IAMB website.
- The next meetings of the IAMB have been scheduled for 11-12 October, and 6-7 December
- The meeting was adjourned on Wednesday 8 September 2004.
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