World Bank Group Internship Event, 23 February 2022
Blog by Alice Milton, intern at UNCLC
This event provided valuable insight into the internship opportunity at the World Bank Group, partnered with the UNCLC, the School of Law and Faculty Placements. We heard from Nina Pavlova Mocheva, a senior financial sector specialist in the insolvency and debt resolution unit, who will be overseeing the internship from the World Bank side. In addition to this, we learned about the experiences of past interns Ivana Manuel and Thomas Nair. Dr Matthew Windsor (co-Director of the LLM programme) who will be overseeing the internship from the Nottingham side also provided practical information. This is the third year of this internship being offered and the first time the intern will hopefully be onsite in Washington.
The World Bank Group is composed of five institutions and is a truly international organisation, with over 180 member countries. Its goals are to create sustainable growth, build resilience and invest in people. Since the pandemic started this work has become even more important. The insolvency and debt resolution (IDR) team is where the intern would be placed. It is a team of seven lawyers from various jurisdictions who work to assist client countries. The quality of this legal team is an important factor influencing the feasibility for markets.
The IDR team works in several different ways. It sets standards through globally recognised codes which provide a framework to strengthen domestic institutions. The team also regularly has taskforce meetings with international experts in insolvency with partnerships such as the IMF and EU Commission to update these principles. A large part of the team’s work is through technical assistance to client governments. This is coupled with regular roundtables, such as the annual Africa roundtable which the selected intern may help to prepare.
The intern would be given a range of tasks and responsibilities. This may involve engaging with client governments on their request by reviewing insolvency regimes or looking at new sets of laws and frameworks. The team’s partners in a client country often include central banks, ministers of justice and finance, making lasting changes to insolvency structures. The selected intern would be involved in all these activities and encouraged to voice their interests. The internship may also include a mission trip to the client country that the intern is supporting.
The past interns talked about the most rewarding aspects of the experience. Ivana highlighted how no assignment was the same and that she was able to witness the wide range of work from the team. There was great support from weekly check-ins and the context and value of her work was always provided.
“The level of responsibility you are given makes you feel like you are part of the team.”
Thomas talked about specific projects he had worked on such as amendments to Cambodian insolvency regimes. His highlight was presenting with Nina to a hundred delegates in Mongolia. Thomas also said his language skills were utilised and were a great asset as part of the international team.
“You’ll be exposed to a really big range of projects you can get involved with.”
Dr Matthew Windsor, School of Law, directed students to practical tips for the application and to read blogs from the previous interns. There were several questions moderated by Professor Mevorach, about the application process. The main takeaways from the Q&A were that applications could come from any area of law and that taking part in the application process was a very useful experience for past applicants. Nina also stated that reading material is provided to the intern prior to the commencement of the internship.