The Bretton Woods Conference was a landmark meeting during World War II where representatives from forty-four Allied nations gathered to establish a new framework for international economic cooperation, resulting in the creation of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank.
Established by the Bretton Woods Conference of 1944, the IBRD helps finance post-war reconstruction and raise standards of living in developing countries through loans and loan guarantees. The IBRD is part of the World Bank Group and is owned by the governments of 189 countries.
The Smithsonian Agreement was a pivotal international accord signed in December 1971, which ended the fixed exchange rates established at the Bretton Woods Conference of 1944 and substituted a floating currency exchange rate.
