Boards of Directors of State-Owned Enterprises
An Overview of National Practices
Boards of directors of state-owned enterprises (SOEs) play a fundamental role in corporate stewardship and performance. Over the last decade, OECD governments have sought to professionalise SOE boards, ensure their independence and shield them from ad hoc political intervention. In general these approaches have worked; yet, more remains to be done to meet the aspirational standards of established by the OECD Guidelines on Corporate Governance of State-Owned Enterprises. This report seeks to shed slight on good practices drawing on national practices from over 30 economies.
Executive summary
This report summarises the practices of governments in OECD and other countries in dealing with the boards of directors of state-owned enterprises (SOEs). Focusing on non-executive directors (or supervisory boards), it draws from relevant OECD publications since 2005 and a recent questionnaire-based exercise answered by delegates and observers to the OECD Working Party on State Ownership and Privatisation Practices. The report is organised in seven chapters summarised as follows. Each chapter identifies a number of Good Practices drawing on national experiences and annotations to the OECD Guidelines on Corporate Governance of State-Owned Enterprises (the SOE Guidelines). To assist the reader, these practices are highlighted in the box below.