Corporate governance of state-owned enterprises
The OECD works to ensure that state-owned enterprises operate in a sound competitive and regulatory environment to promote efficient and open markets at the domestic and international level. It advances national reforms in countries across the world, guided by the internationally-agreed OECD Guidelines on Corporate Governance of State-Owned Enterprises.
The OECD Guidelines on Corporate Governance of State-Owned Enterprises give concrete advice to countries on how to manage more effectively their responsibilities as company owners, thus helping to make state-owned enterprises more competitive, efficient and transparent. First issued in 2005, the Guidelines were updated in 2015. They are currently being revised again to reflect nearly a decade of experience and evolving best practices since the first revision. The review is expected to be completed in 2024.
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- Read more about the ongoing review
- Working Party on State Ownership and Privatisation Practices
- G20/OECD Principles of Corporate Governance
In focus
- Review of the OECD Guidelines on Corporate Governance of State-Owned Enterprises
- SAVE THE DATE 14-15/12: Meeting of the Asia Network on Corporate Governance of State-owned Enterprises
- G20/OECD Principles of Corporate Governance
- The Compliance Without Borders Handbook
- OECD Review of the Corporate Governance of State-Owned Enterprises in Romania
- Remuneration of Boards of Directors and Executive Management in State-Owned Enterprises
- Climate change and low-carbon transition policies in state-owned enterprises
Country and sectorial reviews
OECD country reviews evaluate the corporate governance and regulatory framework for SOEs in individual countries. The reviews provide a quantitative sectoral overview of national SOE sectors and examine the state ownership policy, the institutional arrangements, the regulatory frameworks for competition between SOEs and private enterprises, the equitable treatment of shareholders, policies for stakeholder relations and the effectiveness and independence of SOE boards of directors.
- Country reviews: Argentina, Brazil, Bulgaria, Colombia, Croatia, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Ukraine and Viet Nam
- Sectorial reviews: Ukraine electricity sector and Ukraine hydrocarbon sector
Guidelines on Anti-Corruption and Integrity in SOEs
The OECD Guidelines on Anti-Corruption and Integrity in SOEs are the first international instrument to offer the state, in its role as an enterprise owner, support in fighting corruption and promoting integrity in SOEs. The Guidelines can help states to ensure that owners exemplify integrity in their conduct, that ownership arrangements are conducive to integrity, that SOEs adhere to good practices at the SOE level and that accountability mechanisms are integral to SOE sectors.
Privatisation and mixed ownership
This Policy Maker’s Guide to Privatisation provides practical advice to newcomers on key stages of the process from inception to post-privatisation. With global privatisation activity trending upwards and expected to rise, this Guide can support policy makers in their decision making process in the years to come.
Competitive neutrality
Competitive neutrality means that state-owned and private businesses compete on a level playing field. While the principle of competitive neutrality is gaining wide support around the world, obtaining it in practice is a much more difficult question. The OECD is engaged in multiple projects to assist policy makers in designing, adopting, and implementing appropriate policies.
Studies of ownership and governance
- Responsible Business Conduct in the SOE Sector in Asia: Stocktaking of National Practices
- Ownership and governance of state-owned enterprises: A compendium of national practices
- Organising the state ownership function
- Transparency and disclosure practices of state-owned enterprises and their owners
- Risk management by state-owned enterprises and their ownership
- State-owned enterprise governance: A stocktaking of government rationales for enterprise ownership
- State-owned enterprises in the development process
- Balancing commercial and non-commercial priorities of state-owned enterprises
- Boards of directors of state-owned enterprises: An overview of national practices
SOE Landscape
SOEs are important elements of many national economies and increasingly active internationally. The OECD has the most comprehensive and internationally comparable dataset currently available on the size, sectoral distribution and corporate forms of national SOE sectors in 40 countries.