The meeting of G20 finance ministers and central bank governors last week highlighted the importance of improved reflection of the growing weight of emerging markets in the international financial architecture. This will please the BRICS countries, which have confirmed their intention to create a development bank. However, last month’s Durban summit showed that China, Russia, India, Brazil and South Africa are struggling to agree on the basic principles of the bank’s functioning. For the European Union, the fallout from the creation of the bank would broadly depend on what profile it is ultimately assigned, but the failure of the project is unlikely to benefit the EU.