Corporate Governance

The work on corporate governance by the MENA-OECD Investment Programme builds on the OECD’s participation in a series of meetings in the region and on existing activities already established by the Global Corporate Governance Forum (an initiative launched jointly by the OECD and the World Bank Group to globally promote corporate governance) and the Center for International Private Enterprise.

The initiative brings together key players and stakeholders in the region and their counterparts from OECD countries for roundtable meetings to take stock of policy implementation, exchange experiences, engage in policy dialogue, and move forward on key priority issues and recommendations. 

A Task Force on Corporate Governance of Banks is currently working on a policy brief on corporate governance of banks in the region. he brief will analyse existing frameworks and practices, and identify concrete steps for continuous improvement of bank governance.

In 2005, the Working Group issued a Survey on Corporate Governance, comparing legal frameworks and developments in the region and including a set of policy conclusions. The survey also provided background for the development of recommendations set out in the Dubai Declaration and for the launch of key initiatives on the corporate governance of banks, state-owned enterprises and insolvency.

Two regional taskforces have been formed to work more specifically on the issue of corporate governance of banks and the corporate governance of state owned enterprises, and policy briefs with recommendations.

• 23-24 June 2010, Task Force on Corporate Governance of State-Owned Enterprises in the MENA region, Cairo, Egypt
• 1 March 2010, Task Force on Corporate Governance of State-Owned Enterprises in the MENA region, Paris, France
• 24 February 2010, First meeting of the Forum for Insolvency Reform in the MENA region, in cooperation with World Bank, INSOL International, and Hawkamah in Dubai
• 7-8 December 2009, First meeting of the Union of Arab Stock Exchanges
• 9-10 November 2009, Meeting of the MENA-OECD Working Group on Corporate Governance 
• 14 October 2009, First corporate governance conference organised by the Abu Dhabi Center for Corporate Governance
• 11 October 2009, Banking Task Force meeting
• 26-27 May, 2009, Dubai, UAE, Regional Symposium on Insolvency and Creditor Rights in the MENA countries
• 28-29 May, 2009, Beirut, Lebanon, Reinforcing Financial Supervision and Regulation - Lessons from the Crisis
• 15 June, 2009, Cairo, Egypt,  Third Annual Conference of the Egyptian Institute of Directors (EIOD)
• 10 November 2008, Doha, Qatar
• 27 November 2006, Dubai, UAE
• 14-15 September 2005, Rabat, Morocco
• 14 February 2005, Amman, Jordan

• Dubai Declaration on Corporate Governance
• Survey on Corporate Governance
• Corporate Governance of Banks Building Blocks
• Building Sound Insolvency Systems
• Policy Brief on Improving Corporate Governance in Banks of the MENA
• Insolvency and Creditor-Rights Systems for the MENA

For more information about the MENA Investment programme

This initiative is part of the broader MENA-OECD Investment Programme, aiming to assist efforts to mobilise investment as a driving force for economic growth and development in the region. The Working Group benefits from the support of the Global Corporate Governance Forum, the International Finance Corporation, and the Centre for International Private Enterprise. It works closely with home grown institutions and initiatives, such as the Hawkamah Regional Institute for Corporate Governance and the Union of Arab Banks.