Ethical issues in international lending

This article deals with the ethical issues faced by commercial banks, governments and international financial institutions in their international lending activities. Such issues include not only to whom and for what purpose such lending takes place but also the more delicate questions of the relations between sovereign lending and economic management, as well of lending to sovereign countries embroiled in situations of conflict. It leads to the ethical issues raised by the present international debt crisis: co-responsibility, burden-sharing, role of the international organisations. Finally, capital flight out of developing countries is studied as a special case.Bernard Snoy born in Bois-Seigneur-Isaac (Belgium) in 1945.Holder of bachelor's degree in philosophy and of doctor's degree in law from Catholic University of Louvain and of Ph.D. in economics from Harvard.Has worked for 12 years with the World Bank in Washington and in Paris.Has been teaching at the Catholic University of Louvain and at the College of Europe (Bruges).Has been for two years Economic Adviser at the Commission of the European Communities.Since May 1988, Bernard Snoy assumed the position of Chief of the Minister's Cabinet at the Belgian Ministry of Finance.This presentation made in November 1987 reflects the views of the speaker and does not necessarily represent the views of the Commission.