President of the World Federation of Diamond Bourses Ernie Blom

One Body to Bind them: The Story of WFDB

The World Federation of Diamond Bourses (WFDB) was founded in 1947 in Antwerp as a body that would unite diamond exchanges under one roof. Today, WFDB represents 30 bourses around the world, including the Israel Diamond Exchange (IDE). At the 35th World Diamond Congress in Mumbai in 2012, Ernie Blom from South Africa was elected President and he is currently the serving President of the WFDB. The seat of the World Federation of Diamond Bourses is in Antwerp.

According to its website, the WFDB provides a common set of trading practices for bourses trading in rough and polished diamonds, as well as colored stones. Their object is not only to protect the interests of affiliated bourses and their individual members, but also to participate in the promotion of world trade and to encourage the establishment of bourses.

The individual bourses of the WFDB maintain their autonomy in all internal matters; at the same time, according to the WFDB, the bourses agree that decisions made at the local level will comply with a general and dynamic legal framework, ratified by the WFDB General Assembly.

In June, 2015, the Israel Diamond Exchange and the Israel Diamond Manufacturers Association hosted the biennial Presidents’ Meeting of the WFDB and the Diamond Manufacturers Association. During the two-and-a-half-day event, the leaders of the 30 diamond bourses affiliated to the WFDB, and IDMA’s 16 member organizations discusses issues affecting the global diamond industry.

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