Contents:

• I. Applicability
• II. Financial period
• III. The budget
• IV. Appropriations
• V. Provision of funds
• VI. Funds
• VII. Other income
• VIII. Custody of funds
• IX. Investment of funds
• X. Internal control
• XI. Procurement
• XII. The accounts
• XIII. External audit
• XIV. Resolutions involving expenditures
• XV. General provisions

RULE 1

These Regulations shall govern the financial administration of the Inter-Parliamentary Union.

RULE 2

The financial period shall be the calendar year from 1 January through 31 December.

RULE 3

1. The annual budget of the IPU shall be approved by the Governing Council (cf. Statutes, Art. 21 (h)).

2. The annual budget estimates shall be prepared by the Secretary General (cf. Statutes, Art. 28.2 (f)) and shall be presented in Swiss francs (CHF).

3. The annual budget estimates shall be accompanied by such information annexes and explanatory statements as the Secretary General may deem necessary and useful, or as required by the Governing Council.

4. The Executive Committee shall examine the annual budget estimates prepared by the Secretary General and submit them to the second session of the Governing Council with such recommendations as it considers desirable (cf. Statutes, Art. 26.2 (e)).

5. The annual budget estimates shall be transmitted by the Secretary General to all Members of the IPU at least one month prior to the opening of the session of the Governing Council.

6. Supplementary estimates may be presented by the Secretary General whenever necessary in a form consistent with the estimates for the financial year and shall be submitted to the Executive Committee. The Executive Committee shall review the supplementary estimates and submit them for approval to the Governing Council with such recommendations as it considers desirable.

7. In addition to the budget estimates for the following financial period, the Secretary General shall present to the Executive Committee and the Governing Council, for their information, provisional estimates for the next succeeding year, or such further periods as the Governing Council shall require.

8. Should the Governing Council reject the draft budget proposed by the Executive Committee, it shall either designate a balanced working group to study the question and submit a revised draft budget, possibly extending its sitting for that purpose, or shall decide to convene extraordinary sessions of the Executive Committee and Governing Council before the end of the year in question in order to find a solution and adopt the budget.

RULE 4

1. The appropriation approved by the Governing Council shall constitute an authorization to the Secretary General to incur obligations and make payments for the purpose for which the appropriations were approved.

2. The Secretary General may not, without the consent of the Executive Committee, effect expenditures in excess of the overall appropriations included in the annual budget (cf. Secretariat, Rule 10.3).

3. Should the appropriations approved by the Governing Council appear to be insufficient to cover the expenditure required for the execution of the programme and the administration of the IPU, the Secretary General shall so inform the Executive Committee, which may request the Governing Council to grant supplementary appropriations (cf. Statutes, Art. 26.2 (i); Secretariat, Rule 10.4).

4. In urgent cases, the Executive Committee may grant these supplementary appropriations and shall inform the Governing Council of such action at the Governing Council's next session (cf. Statutes, Art. 26.2 (i); Secretariat, Rule 10.5).

5. Appropriations shall be available to discharge obligations for the financial year to which they relate. Any balance of the appropriations at the close of the financial year shall be submitted by the Secretary General, through the Executive Committee, to the Governing Council for a decision concerning its use.

6. Appropriations shall remain available for 12 months following the end of the financial year to which they relate, to the extent that they are required to discharge obligations in respect of goods supplied and services rendered in the financial year and to liquidate any other outstanding legal obligations of the year.

7. At the end of this 12-month period, the remaining cash balance of these appropriations shall be subject to the same procedure as specified in Rule 4.5 above.

8. The Secretary General shall consult the Executive Committee, whenever possible, before transferring amounts from one budget heading to another within the total amount appropriated and in the course of a single financial year.

9. The Secretary General shall be authorized to make such transfers not exceeding 3 per cent of the total appropriation for any fiscal period without prior consultation of the Executive Committee, but shall submit them to the next session of the Executive Committee for its opinion before the consideration of the accounts by the Governing Council.

RULE 5 (cf. Statutes, Art. 5)

1. The budget appropriations, as well as the possible supplementary appropriations, shall be financed by:

(a) Contributions from the Members and Associate Members of the IPU;
(b) Contributions from newly affiliated or reaffiliated Parliaments and special debts;
(c) Contributions from external sources;
(d) Income derived from investments;
(e) Miscellaneous income; and
(f) Any amount approved by the Governing Council in accordance with the provisions of Rule 4.5 and 4.7 above.

2. The contributions from the Members shall be calculated according to the scale of assessed contributions determined by the Governing Council, and adjusted taking into account the membership of the IPU at the date when the contributions are requested.

3. After the Governing Council has adopted the budget, the Secretary General shall:

(a) Send the relevant documents to the Members; and
(b) Inform the Members of their commitments in respect of annual contributions to the budget.

5. Annual contributions shall be assessed and paid in Swiss francs.

6. Payments made by a Member of the IPU shall be credited to the contributions due in the order in which the Member was assessed.

7. The Secretary General shall submit to the Executive Committee and the Governing Council a report on the collection of contributions.

8. Newly affiliated or reaffiliated Parliaments which become Members of the IPU during the first half of the year shall be required to make a contribution for the full year; those affiliated or reaffiliated in the second half of the year shall be required to pay a sum equal to one half of the assessment of their contribution.

9. When the affiliation of an IPU Member is suspended because the Parliament of the country concerned has ceased to function, any arrears of contributions owed by that Member shall be written off.

10. Any Member of the IPU whose affiliation was suspended for failure to meet its financial obligations towards the IPU shall remain accountable for these arrears. Should such a Parliament subsequently present a request for reaffiliation, it shall pay, at the time of its reaffiliation reaffiliation earlier than 10 years after the date of its suspension, at least one third of the outstanding arrears and shall present a plan for the settlement of the full remaining amount over a reasonable period of time. Until the full sum is paid, this amount shall remain as a special debt and shall not be considered as arrears under the provisions of Articles 4.2 and 5.2 of the Statutes.

11. Notwithstanding the provisions of the preceding paragraph, a former Member of the IPU that has been suspended from the IPU for non-payment of its contributions and which requests reaffiliation to the IPU may, in special extenuating circumstances, be forgiven a part or all of its previous debt. The Governing Council shall decide on each case on an individual basis after receiving the detailed report of the Executive Committee.

RULE 6

1. A General Fund shall be established. The purpose of this Fund shall be to finance the expenditures of the IPU within the framework of the regular budget and of any special budgets. The sources of financing of this Fund shall be the receipts provided for in Rule 5.1 above, including advances from the Working Capital Fund.

2. A Working Capital Fund shall be established in an amount determined by the Governing Council at a level sufficient for the following purposes:

(a) To finance expenditures pending the receipt of incomes; and
(b) To finance any possible extraordinary expenditure which may be decided by the Governing Council.

(a) Corresponding appropriations included in the annual budget as its replenishment and/or its increase; and
(b) Any other amount as decided by the Governing Council.

5. Trust Funds and Special Accounts may be established by the Secretary General for activities with restricted funding from external sources as decided by the Governing Council.

6. Unless otherwise provided, such funds and accounts shall be administered in accordance with the present Financial Regulations.

RULE 7

1. Voluntary contributions, gifts or bequests, whether or not in cash, may be accepted by the Secretary General, following authorization by the Governing Council (cf. Statutes, Art. 21 (j)).

2. Monies accepted for the purpose specified by the donor shall be treated as Trust Funds.

3. Monies accepted in respect of which no purpose is specified shall be treated as miscellaneous income.

RULE 8

The Secretary General shall designate the bank(s) in which the funds of the IPU shall be kept.

RULE 9

1. The Secretary General may make investments of monies not needed for immediate requirements.

2. Income derived from investment shall be credited to the corresponding Fund.

RULE 10 (cf. Secretariat, Rule 9)

1. The Secretary General, who is responsible for the execution of the budget of the IPU and the administration of its assets, shall:

(a) Establish detailed financial rules and procedures in order to ensure effective and efficient financial management and the exercise of economy;
(b) Designate the officers who may receive monies, incur obligations and make payments on behalf of the IPU;
(c) Maintain internal financial controls, which shall provide for an effective current examination and/or review of financial transactions in order to ensure:

(i) The regularity of the receipts, custody and disposal of all funds and other financial resources of the IPU;
(ii) The conformity of obligations and expenditures with the appropriations or other financial provisions approved by the Governing Council, or with the purposes and rules relating to Funds and Special Accounts; and
(iii) The economic use of the resources of the IPU.

3. The Secretary General may, in exceptional circumstances, make such ex gratia payments as are deemed to be in the interests of the IPU, and a statement of such payments shall be submitted to the Internal Auditors with the accounts.

RULE 11

1. Procurement functions include all actions necessary for the acquisition, by purchase or lease, of property, including products and real property, and of services, including works. The following general principles shall be given due consideration when the procurement functions of the Inter-Parliamentary Union are exercised:

(a) Best value for money;
(b) Fairness, integrity and transparency;
(c) Effective international competition; and
(d) The interest of the IPU.

RULE 12

1. The Secretary General shall maintain such accounting records as are necessary and shall submit annual accounts showing for the financial year to which they relate the income and expenditure of the General Account, all Funds and Special Accounts. The Secretary General shall also give such other information as may be appropriate to indicate the current financial position of the IPU.

2. The accounts of the IPU shall be presented in Swiss francs.

RULE 13

1. The Executive Committee shall designate an External Auditor entrusted with auditing the accounts of the IPU (cf. Statutes, Art. 26.2 (j)).

2. The External Auditor shall submit a report to the Secretary General not later than 1 March following the end of the financial year. The Secretary General shall submit this report and the audited accounts not later than 15 March to the two Auditors appointed by the Governing Council from among its members (cf. Statutes, Art. 21 (i)).

3. The audited accounts, together with such comments as they may consider necessary, shall be presented by the Auditors to the Governing Council for approval at its first annual session. The Governing Council shall then sanction the Secretary General's financial administration (cf. Governing Council, Rule 41).

RULE 14

1. The Secretary General shall provide information on the administrative and financial implications of any proposal submitted to an organ of the IPU which may involve expenditures.

2. No resolution or decision involving expenditures shall be executed unless approved by the Governing Council which will, at the same time, decide on the means of its financing.

RULE 15

1. These Regulations shall be approved by the Governing Council and shall take effect as of the date of their approval.

2. Any proposal for the suspension or amendment of a Rule(s) of the present Regulations shall be presented in writing and sent to the IPU Secretariat at least three months before the next meeting of the Governing Council.

3. The Secretary General shall immediately communicate such a proposal to the Governing Council's members and to the Executive Committee for its opinion.

Statutes

Rules of the Assembly

Rules of the Governing Council

Rules of the Executive Committee

Rules of the Standing Committees

Rules of the Forum of Women Parliamentarians

Rules of the Bureau of Women Parliamentarians

Committee on the Human Rights of Parliamentarians

Forum of Young Parliamentarians of the IPU

Rules of the Secretariat

Financial Regulations

Rights and responsibilities of observers

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