Governance and members

Governance

Bertrand DUMONT, 

Chairman of the Paris Club and Director-General of the Treasury 

Thomas REVIAL,

Co-Chairman of the Paris Club and Assistant Secretary for Multilateral Affairs, Trade and Development Policies Department

Shanti BOBIN, 

Vice-Chairperson of the Paris Club and Deputy Director in charge of Multilateral Financial Affairs and Development Division

Benjamin DARTEVELLE,

Secretary General of the Paris Club and Head of Unit International Debt

 

The Chair and the Secretariat of the Paris Club
 

  The Chair

The Chairman of the Paris Club: traditionally, a senior official of the French Treasury.

His deputies at the French Directorate-General of the Treasury serve as Co-Chairman and Vice-Chairperson.

  The Secretariat

Its informal character has made it possible for t 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 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

Members and participants

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.

 

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.

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, the Czech Republic, Kuwait, Mexico, Morocco, New Zeland, Portugal, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Trinidad and Tobago, Türkiye and the United Arab Emirates.

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.

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.

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:

ROLES AND PARIS CLUB PRINCIPLES

  • Role

    Joins all the Tour d'Horizon meetings and commits to abide by the Paris Club's principles. 

    Able to influence evolution of principles and methodology.

    Engagements

    - Solidarity: Full commitment to solidarity among Club members

    - Consensus: Able to block decisions but agrees to abide by decisions made by consensus

    - Information Sharing: Responds to all data sharing requests

    - Case-by-case: Case-by-case treatment of debtor countries will continue regardless of the type of participation or membership.

    - Conditionality: Condtionality applies regardelss of type of participation or membership.

    - Comparability of treatment: A debtor country that signs an agreement wit its Paris Club creditors should not accept from its non-Paris Club bilateral and commercial creditors terms of treatment of its debt less favorable to the debtor than those agreed with the Paris Club.

  • Role

    Joins all discussions at all Tour d'Horizon meetings for a liimited period of time at the end of wich creditors must either seek full membership or return to Ad Hoc Participation.

    Acceptance as a full member is based on demonstrated commitmment to all Paris Club principles.

    Engagements

    - Solidarity: Ability to uphold solidarity is a fundamental requirement for consideration as a full member

    - Consensus: Cannot block decisions, but can influence them to a certain extent through the metholodogy sessions

    - Information Sharing: Beyond restructurings, data sharing is not mandatory bu strongly encouraged

    - Case-by-case: Case-by-case treatment of debtor countries will continue regardless of the type of participation or membership.

    - Conditionality: Condtionality applies regardelss of type of participation or membership.

    - Comparability of treatment: A debtor country that signs an agreement wit its Paris Club creditors should not accept from its non-Paris Club bilateral and commercial creditors terms of treatment of its debt less favorable to the debtor than those agreed with the Paris Club.

  • Role

    Invited on a case-by-case basis to join on a country-specific discussion and/or restructuring, based on a signaled interest in specific countries and issues.

    Engagements

    - Solidarity: Full commitment to solidarity in case of restructuring participation

    - Consensus: Cannot block decisions, but can influence them to a limited extent

    - Information Sharing: An Ad Hoc Participant and PC members share data based on reciprocity. Providing data on claims is strongly encouraged, and is a condition for the participation of an Ad Hoc Participant in a debt restructuring. In order for the discussions to remains productive, deliberations are kept confidential

    - Case-by-case: Case-by-case treatment of debtor countries will continue regardless of the type of participation or membership.

    - Conditionality: Condtionality applies regardelss of type of participation or membership.

    - Comparability of treatment: A debtor country that signs an agreement wit its Paris Club creditors should not accept from its non-Paris Club bilateral and commercial creditors terms of treatment of its debt less favorable to the debtor than those agreed with the Paris Club.