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The G20/OECD Principles of Corporate Governance are intended to help policy makers evaluate and improve the legal, regulatory, and institutional framework for corporate governance, with a view to supporting economic efficiency, sustainable growth and financial stability. This is primarily achieved by providing shareholders, board members and executives, the workforce and relevant stakeholders, as well as financial intermediaries and service providers with the right information and incentives to perform their roles and help to ensure accountability within a framework of checks and balances.
Corporate governance involves a set of relationships between a company’s management, board, shareholders and stakeholders. Corporate governance also provides the structure and systems through which the company is directed and its objectives are set, and the means of attaining those objectives and monitoring performance are determined.
The Principles are intended to be concise, understandable, and accessible to all actors with a role in developing and implementing good corporate governance globally. They seek to identify objectives and suggest various means for achieving them, typically involving elements of legislation, regulation, listing rules, self-regulatory arrangements, contractual undertakings, voluntary commitments and business practices.
The Principles focus on publicly traded companies, both financial and non-financial. To the extent they are deemed applicable, the Principles may also be a useful tool to improve corporate governance in companies whose shares are not publicly traded. While some of the Principles may be more appropriate for larger companies than for smaller ones, policy makers may wish to raise awareness of good corporate governance for all companies, including smaller and unlisted companies as well as those that issue debt securities. The Principles are presented in six chapters: I) Ensuring the basis for an effective corporate governance framework; II) The rights and equitable treatment of shareholders and key ownership functions; III) Institutional investors, stock markets, and other intermediaries; IV) Disclosure and transparency; V) The responsibilities of the board; and VI) Sustainability and resilience.
Assessment Methodology
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The Methodology, revised in March 2025 to take account of 2023 revisions to the G20/OECD Principles of Corporate Governance, provides the basis for assessments of jurisdictions’ implementation of the G20/OECD Principles. The purpose of an assessment is to identify the nature and extent of specific strengths and weaknesses in corporate governance, and thereby support policy dialogue that may identify reform priorities leading to the improvement of corporate governance and economic performance. The Methodology offers a framework for undertaking qualitative assessments of what jurisdictions could and should achieve in relation to the G20/OECD Principles.
Corporate governance reviews may be voluntary self-assessments, carried out for example in the context of a jurisdiction’s consideration of becoming an Adherent to the G20/OECD Principles, or may support required assessments for jurisdictions seeking accession to the OECD. The Methodology also underpins other formal reviews carried out as a result of the G20/OECD Principles’ status as one of the Financial Stability Board’s Key Standards for Sound Financial Systems, including as a reference for the World Bank’s Reports on Observance of Standards and Codes (ROSCs) and the International Monetary Fund’s Financial Sector Assessment Program (FSAPs). It also supports more targeted reviews focused on specific corporate governance topics.
Reflecting the G20/OECD Principles, the Methodology places emphasis on “outcomes” and, therefore, on “functional equivalence”. This means that there are many different ways for achieving the “outcomes” advocated by the G20/OECD Principles, including through institutions, laws and companies’ internal rules.