OECD guidelines on corporate governance of state-owned enterprises

The new OECD Guidelines on Corporate Governance of State-Owned Enterprises provide an internationally agreed benchmark to help governments assess and improve the way they exercise their ownership functions in state-owned enterprises. Good corporate governance of state-owned enterprises is a key reform priority in many countries. Improved efficiency and better transparency in the state owned sector will result in considerable economic gains, especially in countries where state ownership is important. In addition, creating a level playing field for private and state-owned enterprises will encourage a sound and competitive business sector. The Guidelines, first adopted in 2005, provide a set of good practices on the legal and regulatory framework for state-owned enterprises (SOEs), the professionalization of the state ownership function and the corporate governance arrangements of SOEs. This new version of the recommendation was developed in the light of almost a decade of experiences with its implementation and a number of thematic and comparative studies, developed on the basis of the earlier version of the Guidelines, that showed the need for, and supported, their revision, including in areas such as disclosure and transparency, public-private competition, board practices and funding and financing of SOE