ADB-AIIB amity hints at change in architecture of financing

FOR two men supposedly squaring up for a battle of the development-banking giants, the president of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the prospective head of the China-led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) seemed to be on remarkably friendly terms at the ADB annual meeting in the Azerbaijani capital of Baku.

It was tempting to wonder whether some sort of pact might be in prospect between the ADB's Takehiko Nakao and the AIIB's Jin Liqun, one that went beyond the formal gestures of cooperation they offered each other.

Could they be considering a deal that would begin to alter the architecture of international financial institutions (IFIs)?