# Summits and institutions

Explainer · Updated 2026-09-07  
Canonical: https://whatisbrics.org/articles/summits-and-institutions/

The load-bearing pieces are an annual leaders’ summit, a rotating chair, ministerial tracks, the [New Development Bank](https://whatisbrics.org/articles/new-development-bank/), and the Contingent Reserve Arrangement.

The chair hosts and usually drafts the declaration. Declarations are consensus language, not automatically binding law. Comparative treaty process: [foreigndiplomacy.org](https://foreigndiplomacy.org). Who won the year’s argument: [bricspolicy.org](https://bricspolicy.org).

The CRA was announced with the NDB at Fortaleza in 2014: a liquidity framework among the original five with a stated total size of $100 billion. Published contribution structure: China $41 billion; Brazil, Russia, and India $18 billion each; South Africa $5 billion. Those are announced commitments. Public information on actual drawings is thin — do not invent a utilization rate.

The CRA is not the IMF and not a BRICS currency. Markets: [usmarketupdates.com](https://usmarketupdates.com), [globalmarketupdates.com](https://globalmarketupdates.com). Russia’s war: [armedconflicts.org](https://armedconflicts.org/russia-ukraine-war.html). Roster: [membership evolution](https://whatisbrics.org/articles/membership-evolution/), [bricsnations.org](https://bricsnations.org). Washington’s reading: [usforeignpolicy.org](https://usforeignpolicy.org).