9 DE SETEMBRO DE 1983

781

uns therefor. The Board of Governors shall make a final decision on the matter at its next annual meeting, if such suspension occurs not more than ninety days before that meeting, otherwise at a special meeting to be called by its Chairman. The Board of Governors may remove the president from office by a resolution adopted by a majority of the voting power of the members, including a majority of the voting power of the regional members.

Article 37 The office of the President

1 — The President shall be Chairman of the Board of Directors, but shall have no vote except a deciding vote in case of an equal division. He may participate in meetings of the Board of Governors but shall not vote.

2 — The President shall be chief of the staff of the Bank and shall conduct, under the direction of the Board of Directors, the current business of the Bank. He shall be responsible for the organization of the officers and staff of the Bank whom he shall appoint and release in accordance with regulations adopted by the Bank. He shall fix terms of their employment in accordance with rules of sound management and financial policy.

3 — The President shall be the legal representative of the Bank.

4 — Bank shall adopt regulations which shall determine who shall legally represent the Bank and perform the other duties of the President, in the event that he is absent or that his office should become vacant.

5 — In appointing the officers and staff, the President shall make it his foremost consideration to secure the highest standards of efficiency, technical competence and integrity, and recruit them on as wide a geographical basis as possible, paying full regard to the regional character of the Bank, as well as the participation of non-regional states.

Article 38

Prohibition of political activity; the International character of the Bank

1 — The Bank shall not accept loans or assistance that could in any way prejudice, limit, deflect or otherwise alter its purpose or functions.

2 — The Bank, its President, Vice-Presidents, officers and staff shall not interfere in the political affairs of any member, nor shall they be influenced in their decisions by the political character of the member concerned. Only economic considerations shall be relevant to their decisions. Such considerations shall be weighed impartially in order to achieve and carry out the functions of the Bank.

3 — The President, Vice-Presidents, officers and staff of the Bank, in discharge of their offices, owe their duty entirely to the Bank and to no other authority. Each member of the Bank shall respect the international character of this duty and shall refrain form all attempts to influence any of them in the discharge of their duties.

Article 39 Office of the Bank

1 — The principal office of the Bank shall be located in the territory of a regional member State. The choice of the location of the principal office of the Bank shall be made by the Board of Governors at its first meeting, taking into account the availability of facilities for the proper functioning of the Bank.

2 — Notwithstanding the provisions of article 35 of this Agreement, the choice of the location of the principal office of the Bank shall be made by the Board of Governors in accordance with the conditions that applied to the adoption of this Agreement.

3 — The Bank may establish branch offices or agencies elsewhere.

Article 40 Channel of communications; depositories

1 — Each member shall designate an appropriate authority with which the Bank may communicate in connexion with any matter arising under this Agreement.

2 — Each member shall designate its central bank or such other institution as may be agreed by the Bank, as a depository with which the Bank may keep its holdings of currency of that member as well as other assets of the Bank.

3 — The Bank may hold its assets, including gold and convertible currencies, with such depositories as the Board of Directors shall determine.

Article 41

Publication of the Agreement, working languages, provision of information and reports

1 — The Bank shall endeavor to make available the text of this Agreement and all its important documents in the principal languages used in Africa. The working languages of the Bank shall be, if possible, African languages, English and French.

2 — Members shall furnish the Bank with all information it may request of them in order to facilitate the performance of its functions.

3 — The Bank shall publish and transmit to its members an annual report containing an audited statement of the accounts. It shall also transmit quarterly to the members a summary statement of its financial position and a profit and loss statement showing the results of its operations. The Annual Report and the Quarterly Statement shall be drawn up in accordance with the provisions of paragraph 4 of article 13 of this Agreement.

4 — The Bank may also publish such other reports as it deems desirable to carry out its purpose and functions. They shall be transmitted to the members of the Bank.

Article 42

Allocation of net income

1 — The Board of Governors shall determine annually what part of the net income of the Bank, including the net income accruing to its Special Fund,