Exchange Control and the International Monetary Fund

Abstract

THE monetary turmoil which has followed the last war has engendered two main sets of problems in the legal field.First, the post-war devaluations, and particularly those of last September, have raised afresh numerous questions generally connected with devaluation.A considerable body of cases and legal literature has long evolved in this matter."The second line of problems relates to exchange control, that is, broadly speaking, to governmental control of international payments and of transactions in international media of payments (foreign exchange, gold).Since 1931 exchange control has spread over the world; in our day no country is free of it. 2Although ample material, judicial as well as doctrinal, is available on this score too, 3 an unprecedented situation arose in 1946 when the Articles of Agreement of the International Monetary Fund 4 became effective.sSeveral of these articles contain rules on exchange control which are novel and of considerable interest to the lawyer.For the purpose of the present inquiry it is necessary first to appraise the general legal significance of the Agreement.It would be erroneous to assume that each of the articles is binding upon American courts or