International listing of corporate governance guidelines and codes of best practices

There are hundreds of codes and standards on corporate governance out there, their very variety reflecting differing legal traditions and national practices. This website aims to guide surfers through the maze .

In western Europe, the emphasis is on satisfying society's expectations of governance systems, and especially the interests of employees and other stakeholders. Germany, France, the Netherlands and the Scandinavian countries come under that heading.

Other systems stress the primacy of ownership, property rights and maximizing shareholder value. This approach is followed in the United States, Canada and Australia.

One of the most widely respected sets of voluntary principles are the "Principles of Corporate Governance" that the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) published in 1999 and revised in 2004.

Other codes have been issued by an array of government institutions, business organizations and think tanks. Despite differences of emphasis, there are common themes to all of them - like the importance of transparency and upholding shareholder interests.

We are grateful to the US law firm Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP for the following compilation, which provides a comprehensive listing of governance codes and guidelines.