Consideration of the Working Capital Fund
Tasking from COM09/FAC07: Working Capital Fund cap
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Regarding the Working Capital Fund, one Member requested that information about the Working Capital Fund cap be included in future audit reports, as required by the Financial Regulations paragraph 22. Another Member suggested reviewing practices of other RFMOs with similar size and mandate to inform the determination of an appropriate cap.
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Recommendation: That the Commission direct the Secretariat to analyze past discussion by the FAC and options for the Working Capital Fund cap consistent with the Financial Regulations, examine past history of how that number of months has been determined, and present options to FAC08 for determining the optimal number of months of operating funds to be available in the Working Capital Fund for the Commission.
The current balance of the Working Capital Fund (WCF) is ¥189,606,943 (as of 31 March 2025 – audited) which represents more than 12 months of operations at the proposed 2026 budgeted level. The previously agreed level for the WCF was 6 months (see Annex 1 for extracts from NPFC records related to the WCF) and as the surpluses occurred, they were retained. As well, historically, new funds were established (i.e., Special Project Fund in 2018) to retain surpluses for anticipated future requirements.
This Working Paper provides options for the Commission to consider, taking into account the current budget planning context.
A number of intertwined elements are related to the potential to manage the balance in the WCF and are presented in the following pages. A summary of the considerations and recommendations is on the next page.