Arab Monetary Fund
The Arab Monetary Fund (AMF) is a regional Arab organization, a working sub-organization of the Arab League. It was founded 1976, and has been operational since 1977. History. The first president and director of the Arab Monetary Fund, from 1977 to 1982, was Dr. Jawad Hashim. In 1982, the Arab Monetary Fund funded and supervised the launch of Investcorp. Nemir Kirdar was transferred from Chase, where he advised the AMF, to Abu Dhabi to develop the new fund. Omar Aggad was the first investor in this fund. Still in 1982, the AMF inaugurated the Arab Monetary  Fund building in Abu Dhabi. In 1988, the AMF initiated civil actions against its former president Jawad Hashim to recover funds he embezzled (estimated $50 million) during his tenure. A 20-year long legal feud between the AMF and Jawad Hashim followed. In 1992, the AMF published its yearly Arab Economic Report in which the institution revealed that Arab countries had lost a total of $620 billion during the invasion of Kuwait. $84 billion alone were direct payments from Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and the Gulf Emirates, to the United States, Britain and France, regarding military expenses. In  June 2010, the AMF granted a $76 million loan to Jordan to undertake key financial reforms. In December 2010, the AMF granted a $200 million loan to Yemen to support economic restructuring programs. $800 million had been granted to Yemen to this date. In September 2012, the AMF granted a $127 million loan to Morocco to help the country cope with the rising prices of food. In March 2014, Abdulrahman bin Abdullah al Hamidy, former head of Saudi Arabia's central bank, was appointed director general and chairman of the board of the Arab Monetary Fund . In April 2015, the World Bank Group and the Arab Monetary Fund signed a partnership for enhanced cooperation in the MENA region. In May 2016, the Arab Monetary Fund called for central banks increase their commitments to Islamic finance, pressing them to use Sharia-compliant tools to manage their short-term financial obligations. In May 2017, the Arab Monetary Fund loaned $332 million to the Egyptian government to make up for the decline of tourism in the country. In April 2018, the AMF announced its intention to create its own independent regional entity for the clearing and settlement of  intra-Arab payments. Objectives. The Arab Monetary Fund's main objectives are to correct and balance the payment of its member states, remove payment restrictions between members, improve Arab monetary cooperation, encourage the development of Arab financial markets (paving the way for a unified Arab currency), and to facilitate and promote trade between member states. The Articles of Agreement define the Fund's aims as follows: Organization structure. The principal organs of the AMF are the Board of Governors, the Board of Executive Directors, and the Director-General. The Board of Governors (General Assembly) are the highest authority responsible for  formulating policies on Arab economic integration and liberalization of trade amongst residing member states. In the Board of Governors, each member state is represented by an appointed Governor and Deputy Governor whom serve five-year terms. The Board of Executive Directors is composed of eight non-resident directors elected by the Board of Governors on renewable three-year terms that is chaired by the Director-General. The Director-General is also appointed to the board but hold five-year term limits. The Director-General holds the position of Managing Director of the AMF. The organization distributes its work through various  offices (IA), departments, committees, and divisions. The Director-General supervises a committee dedicated to loans and another dedicated to investments in order to be able to make recommendations on loan and investment policies to the Board of Executive Director. In addition this person is responsible for conducting and submitting an Annual Report to the Board of Governors. Location and members. The AMF's headquarters is in the city of Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates. Member countries (22) are: