Council of Europe Development Bank operates as a multilateral development bank that provides banking and financial services to 40 member states in Europe. It grants loans to finance social projects corresponding to various sectoral, geographic, social, and financial criteria for governments, local or regional authorities, and public or private financial institutions. The company provides its services to various projects in education and vocational training, health, social housing, employment in small and medium sized companies, improving living conditions in disadvantaged urban areas and rural modernization, protection of the environment, preservation of historic and cultural heritage, and infrastructure of administrative and judicial public services. It also issues various bonds, including the Euro medium term note program, the U.S. SEC-registered debt program, the Australian and New Zealand dollar medium term note program, and the Euro commercial paper program. Council of Europe Development Bank was founded in 1956 and is headquartered in Paris, France.