The Global Architecture of Multilateral Development Banks: A System of Debt or Development? - Paperbackby Adrian Robert Bazbauers (Author), Susan Engel (Author) This book explores the evolution of the 30 functioning multilateral development banks (MDBs). MDBs have their roots in the growing system of international finance and multilateral cooperation, with the first recognisable MDB being proposed by Latin America in financial cooperation with the US in the late 1930s. That Inter American Bank did not eventuate but was a precursor to the World Bank