This report presents the results of the peer review of policies and practices for general shareholder meetings of publicly traded companies carried out by the OECD Corporate Governance Committee in 2024. The Committee regularly undertakes comparative reviews as part of its mandate to monitor and support the implementation of the G20/OECD Principles of Corporate Governance, and to respond to emerging corporate governance challenges. This study is the first peer review carried out since the revision of the G20/OECD Principles in 2023, and aims to contribute to the Committee’s support of their implementation. By reviewing the policies and practices for general shareholder meetings of publicly traded companies across 50 major economies, the report sheds light on how diverse regulatory frameworks and corporate practices address shareholder participation and engagement, shareholder voting rights, and the transparency of shareholder meetings.
The in-depth case studies of the Netherlands, Singapore, South Africa, Türkiye, and the United Kingdom offer findings into country-specific approaches and innovative practices. The combination of these case studies with the global overview contributes to this report’s analysis of emerging trends worldwide, highlights areas of convergence and divergence, and identifies opportunities for improvement.
The report is primarily based on responses to a questionnaire by 50 jurisdictions of the Corporate Governance Committee, desk research, and insights from a Committee expert roundtable in April 2024 with Christiane Hoelz (DSW – Deutsche Schutzvereinigung für Wertpapierbesitz), Michael McPolin (Broadridge), Adriana Pierelli (BNY Mellon), David Risser (Morrow Sodali), and Wilhelm Mohn (Norges Bank Investment Management). For the five case study countries, in-person interviews were also conducted with a wide range of relevant stakeholders. These case studies, along with the global overview chapter, were discussed during the Committee’s meeting in November 2024. The final version of the report incorporates feedback from those discussions as well as subsequent written comments from Committee delegates and international experts.
This report has been developed by the Capital Markets and Financial Institutions Division of the OECD Directorate for Financial and Enterprise Affairs. It was prepared by Sebastian Abudoj, Fianna Jurdant, Tiziana Londero, Takashi Sudo, and Yunus Emre Yildirim, under the supervision of Daniel Blume, Head of the Corporate Governance Unit, and Serdar Çelik, Head of Division.