OECD invites non members to join the Codes with full rights and duties

The OECD Council adopted a landmark decision on governance of the Codes of Liberalisation in July 2012. Full decision-making powers have been delegated to the Investment Committee which will be enlarged to include non members willing and able to meet the standards of adherence; all adherents will have equal rights and obligations.

Download a full description of the new governance arrangements (pdf), including the role of the Codes, benchmarks for adherence, governance arrangements, and the procedures to follow to join the Codes.    

About the Codes

The Code of Liberalisation of Capital Movements and the Code of Liberalisation of Current Invisible Operations constitute legally binding rules, stipulating progressive, non-discriminatory liberalisation of capital movements, the right of establishment and current invisible transactions (mostly services).

Implementation of the Codes, in particular by removal of restrictions on cross-border capital flows and trade in services and the concomitant lifting of country reservations against the Codes, involves "peer pressure" exercised through policy reviews and country examinations to encourage unilateral rather than negotiated liberalisation.

Capital Movements

For over 50 years, the OECD Code of Liberalisation of Capital Movements has provided a balanced framework for countries to progressively remove unnecessary barriers to the movement of capital, while providing flexibility to cope with situations of economic and financial instability. This publication presents the full text of the Code, setting out the rights and obligations of adhering countries. It also shows how far each of the adhering countries is open to international capital movements. Download the full text (PDF, 1Mb)

Current Invisible Operations

This publication presents the full text of the Code of Liberalisation of Current Invisible Operations and shows all changes in the positions of members as updated by Decisions of the OECD Council. It allows a comparison of the degree of liberalisation achieved by each country in regard to the international transactions covered by the Code, including services related to business, industry and foreign trade, transport, insurance and pensions, banking and finance, cinema and television, and travel and tourism. Dowload the full text (PDF, 1Mb)

See also

OECD Codes of Liberalisation of Capital Movements and Current Invisible Operations: Users' guide

Forty Years' Experience with the OECD Code of Liberalisation of Capital Movements

South Africa's investment regime

This self-assessment report looks at South Africa's investment regime in the light of the Codes of Liberalisation and the principle of National Treatment

Tokyo Roundtable on capital market reform in Asia
4-5 April 2013 – Tokyo, Japan

Session 2 of this roundtable was devoted to understanding the relationship between liberalisation, capital flow measure and macro-prudential measures.

High-level seminar on capital flow management and liberalisation
9 October 2012 - Paris, France

Participants at this seminar advanced shared understandings on policies to make the most of cross-border capital flows in support of growth and development and on the value of international co-operation in the current context of global financial turbulence.

Making the most of international capital flows

Secretary-General Angel Gurría describes OECD work in this field.

Capital flows and the OECD Code of Liberalisation of Capital Movements

Read more about how the Code of Capital Movements promotes orderly capital flows.

Created in 2012, this Task Force meets regularly to address questions relating to the heightened international co-operation and policy dialogue that the Codes are generating. Special attention is devoted to issues arising in financial markets and financial services including insurance.