Finance, business and the crisis

Read about OECD efforts to help governments improve the domestic and global policies that affect business and markets in the wake of the global economic crisis.

Financial Literacy and Consumer Protection: Overlooked Aspects of the Crisis - Release of OECD’s Recommendation on Good Practices on Financial Education and Awareness Relating to Credit

07-Jul-2009

Financial services firms must make sure their customers understand what they are letting themselves in for when they sign up for mortgages, consumer loans and other products, under new OECD guidelines designed to avoid a repeat of the sub-prime mortgage crisis and ensuing credit crunch that sent the world economy into recession.

OECD calls for strengthening pension fund governance in its revised regulatory principles

07-Jul-2009

The OECD has just issued new guidance for private pension systems that calls for stronger regulation and better governance.

The OECD Core Principles of Occupational Pension Regulation lay out a blueprint for policymakers to improve the regulation and supervision of private pension systems, covering the various aspects of the operation of these syetems, such as licensing, governance, funding, investment and the rights of pension plan members.

Global downturn causes slump in cross-border investment, says OECD

24-Jun-2009

Foreign direct investment (FDI) into 17 OECD countries, including France, Germany, Japan, the UK and the US, fell by 50% in the first quarter of 2009 compared with the last quarter of 2008, according to estimates by the OECD released at the OECD Forum in Paris.

Finance, Competition and Governance: Priorities for Reform and Strategies to Phase-Out Emergency Measures

18-Jun-2009

This report describes issues that must be addressed to restore public confidence in financial markets and to put incentives in place to encourage a prudent balance between risk and the search for return in (broadly-defined) banking.

Dealing with the financial crisis and thinking about the exit strategy

11-Jun-2009

This article looks at the stages of financial crisis management and some of the different degrees of transparency on losses and risks in the US and Europe. It compares alternative approaches to dealing with impaired assets used in the US and Europe, examines the capital needs of banks where exposure to off-balance losses remains a key issue and outlines the requirements of longer-run reform.

Corporate responsibility roundtable on consumer empowerment and responsible business conduct

on 15-Jun-2009

The 2009 roundtable focused on the responsibilities of multinational companies towards consumers and how consumers encourage responsible business conduct in accordance with the framework of the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises.

Becoming an Observer in the Competition Committee

25-Jun-2009

Competition authorities wishing to become an Observer in the OECD Competition Committee for the period 2010-2011 should submit their applications to the OECD by 31 July 2009.  The Committee’s criteria for observership were adopted in 2005 and are set forth here.   The Committee will review applications at its October 2009 session.

Investment policies and economic crises: lessons from the past

21-Apr-2009

How have governments responded to national and international crises in terms of their policies towards international investment? This paper looks at the range of investment policies adopted in previous crises and at how investors responded. It then compares this historical experience with recent measures announced to mitigate the current crisis.

Private pensions and policy responses to the financial and economic crisis

21-Apr-2009

This paper discusses responses to the current financial and economic crisis by regulators, supervisors and policy makers in the area of private pensions. It focuses on the role of private pensions in complementing public systems and on how to design pension systems to introduce some degree of protection, improve sustainability of funding, enhance management and supervision, and step up disclosure and communication.

Resist investment protectionism, countries meeting at OECD agree

30-Mar-2009

Countries participating in a “Freedom of Investment” initiative, which together represent four fifths of the world economy, have pledged to resist discriminatory policies and new forms of protectionism towards investment in the context of the global economic crisis and to continue to monitor measures and commitments.

OECD launches the investment policy review of China

20-Mar-2009

During his second official visit to the People's Republic of China, Angel Gurría launched the Chinese language translation of OECD's investment policy review of China which looks at Chinese government efforts to encourage responsible business conduct against the backdrop of recent regulatory changes and China's increasing outward investment.

The OECD Competition Committee adopts Guidelines for Fighting Bid Rigging in Public Procurement

12-Mar-2009

The Guidelines, which draw on the experience of more than 30 countries, provide the most comprehensive strategy available today for designing tenders to hinder bid rigging conspiracies and for uncovering existing conspiracies. They can be applied in a decentralised manner across government at both national and local levels and are simple enough for use by officials with no specialised economics or competition policy training. 

Corporate governance and the financial crisis

The current crisis has highlighted many corporate governance failures. As part of its strategic response, the OECD is working with governments and industry to develop and put in place more effective corporate governance standards.