The World Bank appears in derivatives articles mainly as a bond issuer and as a producer of commodity price data. The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development was created in 1944 and, together with the International Development Association, forms the World Bank1.

The World Bank describes a transaction it entered into with IBM in 1981 as the world's first formal currency swap. At the time, interest rates in Swiss francs and Deutsche marks were about half of US dollar rates, and the bank aimed to raise funds in those currencies2.

It also publishes the Commodity Markets Outlook twice a year, along with commodity price data3.

Notes

  1. World Bank, "IBRD" (checked on October 13, 2026). Three sentences: "Created in 1944 to help Europe rebuild after World War II.", "IBRD joins with IDA, our fund for the poorest countries, to form the World Bank.", and "IBRD raises most of its funds in the world's financial markets." ↩

  2. World Bank, "The World Bank Treasury | IBRD • IDA: 70 Years Connecting Capital Markets to Development" (checked on October 13, 2026), Chapter 4. "The world's first formal currency swap agreement in 1981, with U.S. technology giant IBM", and the passage saying Swiss franc and Deutsche mark rates were about half of US dollar rates. ↩

  3. World Bank, "Commodity Markets" (checked on October 13, 2026). The Commodity Markets Outlook section and the "Pink Sheet" data section. The twice-a-year schedule is on page 7 of "Commodity Markets Outlook, October 2025." ↩