The World Bank's ethics committee should have a sign on the door warning: "Caveat emptor – don't rely on us."
The absurd controversy over the tenure of Paul Wolfowitz, World Bank president, whose long-standing romantic partner was at the bank years before he was, can be traced to that committee's incoherent advice.
The ethics chairman who proffered advice to Mr Wolfowitz when he joined the bank is now back-pedalling furiously. In loosing the hounds to bay after Mr Wolfowitz and his friend, the institution has set in train a process that will inevitably draw attention to the varied personal relationships and salary levels of other bank administrators and directors.
In 2005, the ethics committee rejected Mr Wolfowitz's workable proposal to recuse himself on all personnel matters concerning his friend. Instead, it ruled that she would have to leave the bank altogether, disrupting her career and making her forgo a promotion for which she had been shortlisted.
It was an extraordinary decision, raising important questions of gender equity at the bank.
Some have mistakenly supposed that the "advice" was a reflection of settled bank rules. But, in fact, it was quite different from the treatment accorded to some other couples who work there.
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