This paper approaches the field of monetary law and monetary policy, specifically regarding the Keynes’ International Clearing Union proposal in the Bretton Woods economic and political context. It also describes and deepens some of the current international monetary system’s elements, such as the special drawing rights and one of the ICU’s originally imagined products, the bancor. The bancor, even though discarded along with most of Keynes’ proposals – which stated Harry Dexter White’s and, consequently, the United States hegemony in the international financial system – would be later inspiring the today known as Special Drawing Rights, accounting unit used by the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The research was conducted based on the author’s writings, on specialized academic articles and on transcripts of the meetings held on Bretton Woods.
Bretton Woods; Bancor; Special Drawing Rights; International Monetary Fund; Keynes