The financial crisis revealed severe shortcomings in corporate governance. When most needed, existing standards failed to provide the checks and balances that companies need in order to cultivate sound business practices.
Towards better corporate governance
In 2008, the OECD launched an ambitious action plan to develop a set of recommendations for improvements in priority areas such as remuneration, risk management, board practices and the exercise of shareholder rights. These recommendations also address how the implementation of already-agreed standards can be improved. This work was published in 3 phases:
An important part of developing these recommendations was to engage and seek advice from key stakeholders. Representatives from governments, the private sector, trade unions and civil society participated in a meeting on 18 March 2009 to provide input to the recommendations and to help guide OECD’s work in the area of corporate governance.
An online public consultation invited comments from the public on corporate governance and the financial crisis.
