Who are we?
THE CHAIR
The Chairman of the Paris Club, traditionally a senior official of the French Treasury, is currently Mr. Bertrand DUMONT, Director-General of the Treasury.
His deputies at the French Directorate-General of the Treasury serve as Co-Chairman and Vice-Chairperson.
Mr. William ROOS, Assistant Secretary for Multilateral Affairs, Trade and Development Policies Department is Co-Chairman.
Mrs. Shanti BOBIN, his Deputy in charge of Multilateral Financial Affairs and Development Division is Vice-Chairperson.
THE SECRETARIAT
Its informal character has made it possible for the Paris Club to work with limited staff and a flexible structure.
A permanent Secretariat was established at the end of the 1970s, when the Paris Club's activity started to become more intense than in previous decades.
The Secretary General, Mr. Philippe GUYONNET DUPERAT, runs a ten-person team of French Treasury officials.
The Paris Club Secretariat may be reached at the following address:
Secrétariat du Club de Paris
Direction générale du Trésor
139, rue de Bercy
Télédoc 551
75572 Paris Cédex 12
France
WHO ARE THE MEMBERS OF THE PARIS CLUB?
The Paris Club is a group of currently 22 permanent members.
Becoming a Paris Club member underlines a country’s commitment to being an active member of the international financial community, willing to work in close collaboration with the IMF and the World Bank. As the principal forum for official debt treatments, the Paris Club is open to and welcomes new members from emerging creditors willing to adhere to the Paris Club principles. In 2016, the Paris Club was pleased to welcome two major emerging creditors, Korea and Brazil, as full members of the Club, after they had participated on an ad hoc basis for several years. Countries that are interested in joining the Paris Club can do so progressively via different membership statuses.
Other creditor countries can participate in negotiation meetings on a case by case basis, provided that certain conditions are met.
Finally, representatives of international financial institutions or countries can be invited to attend the meetings as observers.
ROLE AND PARIS CLUB PRINCIPLES
1. PERMANENT MEMBERS
The 22 permanent members of the Paris Club are countries with large exposure to other States worldwide and that agree on the main principles and rules of the Paris Club. The exposures may be held directly by the government or through its relevant institutions, notably export credit agencies. These creditor countries have constantly applied the terms defined in the Paris Club Agreed Minutes to their bilateral claims and have settled any bilateral disputes or arrears with Paris Club countries, if any. The following countries are permanent Paris Club members:
AUSTRALIA
AUSTRIA
BELGIUM
BRAZIL
CANADA
DENMARK
FINLAND
FRANCE
GERMANY
IRELAND
ISRAEL
ITALY
JAPAN
KOREA
NETHERLANDS
NORWAY
RUSSIAN FEDERATION
SPAIN
SWEDEN
SWITZERLAND
UNITED KINGDOM
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
2. South Africa has been a prospective member since 8 July 2022. This status (which sits between ad hoc participants and full membership) allows a country to attend all TH monthly meetings for a limited period of time. At the end of this period, the prospective member must choose whether to become a full member or return to ad hoc status.
3. AD HOC PARTICIPANTS
The ad hoc status allows creditors countries to participate, on a voluntary basis, in some parts of Paris Club monthly TH meetings, as well as negotiations with a borrowing country in which they have claims (should they so wish). This is the status of China since 2013, India since 2019 and Hungary since 2024.
Furthermore, the following creditors have participated in Paris Club treatments on an ad hoc basis: Argentina, China, the Czech Republic, India, Kuwait, Mexico, Morocco, New Zealand, Portugal, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Trinidad and Tobago, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates.
4. OBSERVERS
Observers attend a negotiation meeting but do not participate in the negotiation itself and do not sign the agreement that formalizes the result of the negotiation.
There are three categories of observers:
a. representatives of international institutions:
b. representatives of permanent members of the Paris Club which have no claims concerned by the debt treatment (for example creditors whose claims are covered by the de minimis provision) or that are not creditors of the debtor country concerned but nevertheless want to attend the negotiation meeting;
c. representatives of non Paris Club countries which have claims on the debtor country concerned but are not in a position to sign the Paris Club agreement as ad hoc participants, provided that permanent members and the debtor country agree on their attendance.