The recent surge in competition between state and private firms in global markets calls for a reflection on how to minimise any potentially distortionary effects on international trade and investment created by state enterprises while at the same time restraining any undue protectionist policy responses directed at them.

This public consultation is being held to gather comments on the draft Chinese Due Diligence Guidelines for Responsible Mineral Supply Chains. They are intended to align Chinese company due diligence with international standards and allow for mutual recognition with existing international initiatives and legislations.

As part of continuing efforts to support market confidence and business integrity, the OECD has launched in Asia a new set of corporate governance principles that were endorsed at the G20 Finance Ministers meeting in September 2015.

Global FDI flows picked up in the first half of 2015, increasing by 13% compared to the second half of 2014. If we exclude the drop in the first half of 2014, global flows have been on a rising trend since the first half of 2013.

29-30 October, Bangkok - The 2015 Roundtable will focus on family-businesses in Asia, institutional investors, disclosure of beneficial ownership and control. It will also discuss the progress made so far in implementing the Roundtable's recommendations.

16 November 2015, Antalya - G20 Leaders today endorsed the new global standards on corporate governance that will help policy makers to evaluate and improve their national corporate governance frameworks with a view to promote market-based financing and to boost long-term investment.

This report on climate change disclosure in G20 countries takes stock of mandatory climate change reporting schemes in G20 countries and identifies commonalities and divergences between the various schemes.

Conventional wisdom holds that countries with lower taxes attract higher levels of foreign direct investment (FDI). At first glance, this intuitive assumption seems to be supported by the evidence but is this true?. Pierre Poret, Deputy Director of the OECD Financial and Enterprise Affairs Directorate takes a closer look.

Focused mainly on the Democratic Republic of the Congo, this report takes stock of 5 years of implementation of national and international programmes and initiatives designed to operationalise the recommendations of the OECD Due Diligence Guidance on Responsible Supply Chains of Minerals from Conflict-Affected and High-Risk Areas in the Great Lakes Region of Central Africa.

24-25 November 2015 – Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe: This meeting featured discussions on recent state-owned enterprise reforms across Southern African economies. It also included the presentation of a draft handbook on ethics and business integrity for use by governments as owners and by state-owned enterprises.

This report takes stock of corporate practices tying business integrity considerations into corporate governance frameworks, strategy and operations. It also assesses what factors influence business decisions to implement business integrity measures in practice. This report is a timely response to a succession of disturbing corporate scandals to which no industry or country appears to be immune.

This report reviews current arrangements and trends in board nomination, size and composition, evaluation, training, induction and use of committees in Latin American SOEs. It also includes financing and budgeting. The countries covered are Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Mexico, Paraguay, Peru and Uruguay.

This report reviews current arrangements and trends in board nomination, size and composition, evaluation, training, induction and use of committees in Latin American SOEs. It also includes financing and budgeting. The countries covered are Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Mexico, Paraguay, Peru and Uruguay.

This meeting will provide the opportunity to discuss the role of governments, international partners and businesses in promoting responsible mineral supply chains from conflict-affected and high-risk areas. Participants will learn first hand about international standards and approaches, and be able to ask questions to experts in supply chain due diligence implementation.

Milan, Italy - 4 December 2015: Last month in Antalya, G20 Leaders endorsed the new G20/OECD Principles of Corporate Governance. This speech by OECD Deputy Secretary-General Rintaro Tamaki presents the objectives and the scope of corporate governance and an overview of the revised Principles.

Corporate climate change disclosure is crucial for providing decision-makers with information that will enable them to integrate climate considerations into their analyses. This side event to the 21st session of the Conference of the Parties will focus on ways to strengthen corporate climate disclosure frameworks, and to scale up the use of corporate climate change-related information.

This report evaluates the corporate governance framework for the Lithuanian state-owned enterprise sector relative to the OECD Guidelines on Corporate Governance of State-Owned Enterprises. The report was prepared at the request of the Republic of Lithuania, reviewed by the OECD Working Party on State Ownership and Privatisation Practices and is based on discussions involving all OECD countries.

Corporate climate change disclosure is crucial for providing decision-makers with information that will enable them to integrate climate considerations into their analyses. This side event to the 21st session of the Conference of the Parties will focus on ways to strengthen corporate climate disclosure frameworks, and to scale up the use of corporate climate change-related information.

Paris, 8 March 2016: Organised on International Women's Day, the OECD hosted a conference to consider policy approaches to closing leadership gender gaps in the public and corporate sectors.

Is there a role for trade liberalisation and facilitation in zeroing in on corruption and supporting integrity in trade? Yes – and a greater one than you might think.

Paris, 26 April 2016: OECD Deputy Secretary-General Douglas Frantz and Adrian Cristobal, Secretary, Department of Trade and Industry, Philippines, OECD Deputy Secretary-General Douglas Frantz and Adrian Cristobal, Secretary, Department of Trade and Industry, Philippines, will present reform successes and remaining challenges as well as strategies for promoting and supporting the recommendations in the report.

From the early 2000s, sustainability has emerged as a central policy-making consideration as climate change and population growth have heightened concerns about already-stretched natural resources.

10-12 May, Paris: The 2016 forum focused on compliance and implementation of the OECD Due Diligence Guidance, including how to maximise the positive impacts on livelihoods through due diligence; viable options for trade in artisanal and small-scale mined gold; and identifying and preventing the worst forms of child labour in the mineral supply chain.

This brochure looks at the corruption, labour, human rights and environmental risks associated with the organisation of large sporting events. It describes how OECD instruments and expertise in implementation of complex projects can help host governments, event organisers and their business partners ensure that the world of sport remains associated with the traditional values of excellence and fair play.

21/05/2016 - It is seven years since the global crisis and despite easy monetary policy, financial regulatory reform, and G20 resolutions favouring structural measures, the world economy is not making a lot of progress. Adrian Blundell-Wignall gives a preview of what’s in the 2016 edition of the OECD Business and Finance Outlook.

A young boy named Kalu, who had been rescued from a carpet-weaving unit in Bihar, once raised a compelling and very significant question when he met then-President Bill Clinton. In conversation with the President, Kalu politely inquired about his plans and policies with regard to the world’s children and their condition.

Four decades after their adoption, the OECD’s Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises have never been more relevant to ensuring that businesses behave responsibly, wherever they operate.

27/05/2016 - The real economy will always seem to be disconnected from the financial economy during periods when the need for structural change is so overwhelming that it can hardly be otherwise. We have had the easiest monetary policy of any historical era outside of hyperinflations, and productivity fails to grow, economic activity is weak...

Forum 2016, entitled Productive economies, Inclusive societies will be organised around the 3 cross-cutting themes of the OECD Week: inclusive growth and productivity, innovation and the digital economy, and international collaboration for implementing international agreements (COP21 and the Sustainable Development Goals) and standards (BEPS and automatic exchange of information).

This note describes work undertaken by the OECD to support the implementation of the 2015 G7 Leaders’ Declaration in the area of responsible business conduct. Four areas of action are covered: outreach on responsible business conduct (RBC) standards to other countries; development of guidance for supply chain due diligence; monitoring of multi-stakeholder initiatives; and strengthening National Contact Points.

7-8 June 2016: This meeting of the Global Knowledge Sharing Network on Corporate Governance of State-Owned Enterprises provides an opportunity for policy makers from around the world to discuss priorities for SOE reform and to support implementation through knowledge sharing.

Investment treaties are intended to offer foreign investors protection for their investments from host government conduct in violation of the treaty. This report examines how many investment treaties, as interpreted, have generated rules that can disrupt fundamental principles of corporate governance and corporate finance.

This report reviews structural changes in the stock exchange industry and provides data on M&A changes in the aggregate revenue structure of major stock exchanges. It describes the fragmentation of the stock market resulting from an increase in stock exchange-like trading venues, such as alternative trading systems (ATSs) and multilateral trading facilities (MTFs), and a split between dark (non-displayed) and lit (displayed) trading.

14-16 June 2016, Paris: The OECD hosted an International Anti-Corruption Conference organised by the French Ministry of Justice, and with the support of the World Bank and the United Kingdom. This conference brought together representatives from anti-corruption authorities worldwide responsible for investigating and prosecuting corruption.

Fifteen years after the creation of National Contact Points as a means to improve the implementation of the Guidelines, the OECD has conducted an analysis of the functioning and performance of the National Contact Points.

This report provides an overview of national practices towards performance evaluation and management of state-owned enterprises in 11 Asian economies: Bhutan, People’s Republic of China, India, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Korea, Myanmar, Pakistan, Philippines, Singapore and Viet Nam.

13 July 2016 - Following endorsement of the G20 Guiding Principles for Global Investment Policymaking by G20 Trade Ministers in Shanghai on 10 July 2016, Ana Novik, Head of the OECD Investment Division, highlights the importance of follow-through on this important stepping stone to greater policy coherence.

The Policy Framework for Investment (PFI) is a non-prescriptive tool for improving investment policy for development. It helps governments to design and implement policy reforms to create a truly attractive, robust and competitive environment for domestic and foreign investment.

Investment can help raise standards of living through job creation, skills and technology development, and distribution of wealth. Achieving these impacts, however, depends on the quality of the investment as much as the quantity. This chapter from the 2016 Development Co-operation Report discusses how responsible business conduct can directly contribute to achieving the SDGs, while also being good for business.

This report covers the activities undertaken to promote the effective implementation of the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises by governments and National Contact Points from July 2014 to December 2015.

Companies today, in particular banks, insurance companies and other financial institutions, increasingly operate their businesses in a group structure. This working paper examines the corporate governance of these groups, paying particular attention to financial groups, and includes an international perspective on corporate and financial laws. It identifies good practices and regulatory considerations for group governance.

17 September 2016, Washington DC - This event brought together legal practitioners and experts to focus on how international standards on responsible business conduct are impacting legal practice as well as how legal tools can be used to strengthen ethical business practices throughout global supply chains.

Responsible business conduct (RBC) is recognised as an important part of the investment climate and is increasingly integrated within public policies aimed at attracting better investment and enhancing sustainable development.

This policy dialogue aims to deepen policy discussions between the OECD and key decision-makers in India. The first phase of the programme provides policy options on improving monitoring and prevention of abusive related party transactions.

The 9th meeting of the Asia network on corporate governance of state-owned enterprises took place in Seoul, Korea, on 6-7 December 2016. Participants discussed measures to strengthen transparency and disclosure in the state-owned enterprise sector.

This stocktaking report first presents a chronology of how systems for the liability of legal persons have evolved among the 41 Parties to the Anti-Bribery Convention. It then presents a “mapping” of the features of these systems for the 41 Parties.

9 December 2016, Paris: Held on International Anti-Corruption Day, this roundtable provided an opportunity for governments, the private sector, civil society, and the media, to reflect on the liability of legal persons following more than 15 years of work by the OECD Working Group on Bribery to promote its application for foreign bribery.

19 December 2016, Paris: On the occasion of the 40th anniversary of the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises, this roundtable convened a wide range of stakeholders from international organisations, governments, business, civil society, and academia involved in working with the Guidelines.

Corruption undermines economic and social progress and steals the future of young generations. Parties to the OECD Anti-Bribery Convention are required to criminalise bribery of foreign public officials but does this make a difference on the ground? This paper estimates a dynamic foreign direct investment (FDI) gravity model to explore the impact of corruption in general and the OECD Anti-Bribery Convention in particular.

This Survey provides a unique consolidated snapshot of the legal, regulatory and institutional framework for the corporate governance of listed companies across 14 Asian economies: Bangladesh, China, Hong Kong (China), India, Indonesia, Korea, Malaysia, Mongolia, Pakistan, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Chinese Taipei and Viet Nam.