OECD Principles of Corporate Governance: 2004

OECD Ministers in 2002 called for an assessment of the OECD Principles of Corporate Governance by 2004.  After more than a year of extensive and open consultations, including an opportunity for public comment via the website, the new Principles were released.

• Download a free copy of the Principles in Arabic, Azerbaijani, English, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Polish, Portuguese,  Russian, Serbian and Spanish
• Order paper copies from the bookshop
• Find answers to the most frequently asked questions about the Principles
• Download a free copy of the Policy Brief: The OECD Principles of Corporate Governance
• Methodology for Assessing Implementation of the OECD Principles on Corporate Governance
• Applying the OECD principles to current policy issues

The work on reviewing the principles was supported by a survey of corporate governance developments in OECD countries, which was carried out in 2002-2003, and a similar synthesis of experiences gained from the Regional Corporate Governance Roundtables.

During the review process, the OECD Steering Group on Corporate Governance, charged with the assessment, asked for public comment on the draft text of the revised Principles. Comments were received from more than 70 individuals, national and international organisations, including the International Corporate Governance Network, Standard and Poors, the International Federation of Accountants, Institutes of Internal Auditors, and others.

The original principles, one of the 12 key standards for international financial stability of the Financial Stability Forum (FSF), were released in May 1999 in response to the growing awareness of the importance of good corporate governance for investor confidence and national economic performance.  They also form the basis for the corporate governance component of the Report on the Observance of Standards and Codes conducted by the World Bank Group.