At the heart of the current system of investment protectionis the World Bank, which created the International Center for Settlement of Investment Disputes ( ICSID) in 1966 in response torequests for arbitration by the Bank’s president.

The World Bank Group is composed of five closely associated institutions i.e. the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD), the International Development Association (IDA), the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA) and the International Center for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID).

See the German-Philippine agreement of 18 April 1997, which provides in article 9(3): “Neither Contracting State shall pursue through diplomatic channels any matter referred to arbitration until the proceedings have terminated and a Contracting State has failed to abide by or comply with the award rendered by the International Center for Settlement of Investment Disputes” (cited by Kokott, supra note 2, at footnote 24).

International Center for the Settlement of Investment Disputes, Administrative and Financial Regulations, Regulation 22 (10 April 2006) available at http://icsid.worldbank.org/ICSID/ICSID/RulesMain.jsp (`The Secretary-General shall appropriately publish information about the operation of the Centre, including the registration of all requests for conciliation or arbitration and in due course an indication of the date and method of termination of each proceeding. ')

They also need assurance that their investments will be safe against arbitrary expropriation, and they value an international mechanism for settling disputes with host governments, such as that provided by the International Center for the Settlement of Investment Disputes at the World Bank.

The multilateral development banks (MDBs; these include the World Bank and the regional development banks) have for some time played a role in attracting FDI to developing countries through co-financing, investment guarantees and the sponsorship of the International Center for the Settlement of Investment Disputes.

International Center for the Settlement of Investment Disputes, Rules of Procedure for Arbitration Proceedings, R. 48 (4) (10 April 2006) available at http://icsid.worldbank.org/ICSID/ICSID/RulesMain.jsp (restricting only the Centre's ability to publish the award without the consent of both parties) (“ICSID Arbitration Rules”); Schreuer, C., The ICSID Convention: A Commentary, at 822 (2001) (the ICSID Convention and Arbitration Rules `do[ ] not enjoin the parties from releasing the award.