This supplement to the Financial Market Trends journal traces the development of the activities of the OECD in the area of financial markets since its beginning, and specifically the work carried out in the Committee on Financial Markets (CMF), created in 1969. The evolution of the functioning of the CMF over this time results from i) developments in financial markets, ii) the changing priorities of OECD countries, and iii) changing goals and methods of the OECD as an institution. The CMF provides an international platform to exchange views and to produce and disseminate high quality analysis. During decades of financial modernisation and deregulation it has been instrumental in interpreting financial market developments. More recently, contributions to the reforms for a post-crisis financial landscape and opening up to non-members have reinforced the CMF’s role as one of the world’s most relevant forums for building consensus on financial policy.