Professor Larry Backer to speak at London’s Chatham House about African sovereign wealth funds

Professor of International Affairs and Law Larry Backer will speak Friday at a conference at Chatham House, the Royal Institute of International Affairs, in London about international financial institutions and African sovereign wealth funds (SWFs).

His presentation, International Monitoring and Oversight: Africa’s Increasing Presence, will draw from a recently published manuscript: "International Financial Institutions (IFIs) and Sovereign Wealth Funds — SWFs as Instruments to Combat Corruption and Enhance Fiscal Discipline in Developing States.”

The conference will consider how SWFs can develop strategies to ensure their performance as accountable financial tools in service of national economies, rather than becoming grey financial tools or parallel budgets. It will focus on what these funds can deliver for sub-Saharan African states, review their demand, development, and delivery on expectations, and discuss their role in the international financial system.

“Sovereign Wealth Funds are becoming an increasingly important way for states to manage their internal economic plans and for developing states to organize their development strategies,” Backer said. “SWFs, especially when invested in companies, are important in shaping global standards of governance and corporate responsibility.”

Chatham House, The Royal Institute of International Affairs, is an independent policy institute based in London, whose mission is to help build a secure, prosperous and just world. "

Professor Larry Backer researches globalization, especially as it relates to the emergence of ways of understanding constitutional and enterprise law. His most recent work touches on the regulation of multinational corporations, sovereign wealth funds, transnational constitutionalism, and the convergence of public and private law. He researches issues of governments as private actors in global markets, the development of law and social norm systems to regulate business and human rights.

For more on the conference, visit: http://www.chathamhouse.org/event/africa%C2%80%C2%99s-sovereign-wealth-funds-demand-development-and-delivery