Canada Freezes & to Review Ties with Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank for Allegations of Being Dominated by China, Allegations Made by AIIB Director General of the Communications Department Bob Pickard Who Shared Resignation on 14th June 2023 on Twitter
15th June 2023 | Hong Kong
Canada (Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland) is freezing & reviewing its ties with Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) for allegations of being dominated by China. The allegations were made by AIIB Director General of the Communications Department (Bob Pickard), who had shared his resignation on 14th June 2023 on Twitter. Canadian Bob Pickard tweet (14/6/23): “I have tendered my resignation as the global comms chief of @AIIB_Official. As a patriotic Canadian, this was my only course. The Bank is dominated by Communist Party members and also has one of the most toxic cultures imaginable. I don’t believe that my country’s interests are served by its AIIB membership.” AIIB (14/6/23): “AIIB has accepted the resignation of Mr. Bob Pickard, who has served as the Director General of the Communications Department since March 2022. Throughout this time, the Bank has supported and empowered him to perform his role. Mr. Pickard’s recent public comments and characterization of the Bank are baseless and disappointing. We are proud of our multilateral mission and have a diverse international team representing 65 different nationalities and members at AIIB, serving our 106 members worldwide, many of whom have been with us since our formation in 2016. The recruitment process to identify a successor will be shortly underway and in the interim the Bank’s communications will be seamlessly driven by an Acting Director General.” AIIB (15/6/23): “Today, the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank’s (AIIB or the Bank) Board of Directors (Board) discussed with Management the resignation of Bob Pickard, former Head of Communications, and the allegations he has levelled against the Bank. It was agreed that an ad-hoc group of the Board of Directors, consisting of Directors and chaired by the Dean of the Board, would be established. An internal management review of this matter, led by AIIB’s General Counsel, will be undertaken and reported to the group. The review will be conducted in line with the Bank’s governance frameworks and policies, including the Code of Conduct for Bank Personnel, the Staff Regulations, the Policy on Public Information and the Policy on Personal Data Privacy.” The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) is a multilateral development bank founded in Beijing in January 2016 with $100 billion. AIIB have 106 approved members worldwide. See the full press release by AIIB below.
“ Canada Freezes & to Review Ties with Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank for Allegations of Being Dominated by China, Allegations Made by AIIB Director General of the Communications Department Bob Pickard Who Shared Resignation on 14th June 2023 on Twitter “
AIIB Welcomes Canadian Review and Initiates Internal Review to Ensure Transparency
15th June 2023 – The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) welcomes the review announced by Canadian Deputy Prime Minister and AIIB Governor, Ms. Chrystia Freeland, into the baseless allegations made by Mr. Bob Pickard, AIIB’s former Director General of Communications, following the announcement of his resignation yesterday.
Ludger Schuknecht, Vice President and Corporate Secretary: “We welcome this review and will be cooperating fully. Transparency is essential to the trust of our 106 Members, our multilateral peers, our development partners, our community of civil society organizations, and the citizens we serve.”
Over the last 24 hours, Senior Management has been working closely with the AIIB Board of Directors to develop a response that demonstrates transparency, maintains trust in the Bank’s multilateral character, and aligns with the Bank’s high standards of governance.
In addition to cooperating with its Canadian counterparts, AIIB will also be conducting its own internal review of the circumstances surrounding the resignation of Bob Pickard and the allegations he has made. This management review will be led by the General Counsel, Alberto Ninio. In the sidelines of the Board Retreat today, the AIIB Board of Directors met informally with Management and agreed to establish a group of Directors to which Management will report.
The review will be conducted in line with the Bank’s governance frameworks and policies, including the Code of Conduct for Bank Personnel, the Staff Regulations, the Policy on Public Information and the Policy on Personal Data Privacy.
Sir Danny Alexander, Vice President for Policy and Strategy: “Our Bank is extremely diverse. Our staff consists of 65 different nationalities, and our global membership now stands at 106. Our Bank is multilateral in spirit, character and practice. Our robust multilateral governance system and international leadership and staff ensures this. With a membership as diverse as AIIB’s, a governance framework that incentives consensus building has been a cornerstone of our success to date and in the future.”
About AIIB
The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) is a multilateral development bank whose mission is financing the Infrastructure for Tomorrow—infrastructure with sustainability at its core. We began operations in Beijing in January 2016 and have since grown to 106 approved members worldwide. We are capitalized at USD100 billion and Triple-A-rated by the major international credit rating agencies. Collaborating with partners, AIIB meets clients’ needs by unlocking new capital and investing in infrastructure that is green, technology-enabled and promotes regional connectivity.
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