Read the blog post by Carmine Di Noia, OECD Director for Financial and Enterprise Affairs

The OECD Guidelines on Corporate Governance of State-Owned Enterprises are the leading global standard for the ownership and governance of state-owned enterprises (SOEs). Since their adoption in 2005, the Guidelines have been adhered to by 38 members of the OECD and three Partner economies. They have underpinned reforms that ensure a level playing field and professionalised corporate governance aimed at improved SOE performance, efficiency and transparency.

In 2023, the Working Party on State Ownership and Privatisation Practices (the ‘Working Party’) began a review of the standard to reflect nearly a decade of experience and evolving best practices since the 2015 revision. The review will strengthen the Guidelines to ensure that SOEs contribute to sustainability, and economic security and resilience, by maintaining a global level playing field and high standards of integrity and business conduct. The Guidelines are also being updated to ensure consistency with its two complementary instruments – the G20/OECD Principles of Corporate Governance, and the OECD Guidelines on Anti-Corruption and Integrity in State-Owned Enterprises.

The Working Party conducted a public consultation on revisions to the Guidelines in July-September 2023. All contributions can be found here.

The revision is expected to take place over the course of 2023 and the first half of 2024 led by the OECD Working Party, and involving participation from G20, OECD membership candidates and other invited partner economies and international organisations.

Read more on the review

Supporting Publications 

The revision of the Guidelines is informed by a number of studies, including:  

Studies on state ownership

• Climate change and low-carbon transition policies in state-owned enterprises
• Safeguarding State-Owned Enterprises from Undue Influence
• Remuneration of Boards of Directors and Executive Management in State-Owned Enterprises
• Monitoring the Performance of State-Owned Enterprises: Good Practice Guide for Annual Aggregate Reporting
• Ownership and Governance of State-Owned Enterprises: A compendium of National Practices
• Implementing the OECD Guidelines on Corporate Governance of State-Owned Enterprises: Review of Recent Developments

Studies on corporate governance

• Climate Change and Corporate Governance
• Corporate ownership and concentration
• Gender diversity on company boards and in senior management
• Digitalisation and corporate governance
• Institutional investors and stewardship

Studies on the level playing field

• Government support in industrial sectors
• State-Owned Enterprise as Global Competitors: A challenge or an Opportunity?

See also

Country reviews of the corporate governance of state-owned enterprises

G20/OECD Principles of Corporate Governance 

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Anti-Corruption and Integrity in State-Owned Enterprises

Contact

For further information on the review, please contact Sara.Sultan@oecd.org, Head of the Working Party Secretariat.