At their meetings on 19-20 September 2013, APEC Finance Ministers welcomed a survey report prepared by the OECD on disaster risk financing practices in the Asia Pacific region.

This regional seminar in Montevideo, Uruguay, focused on the monitoring and transparency of insurance markets in Latin America through the provision of sound insurance statistics and indicators, regionally and globally.

Jointly developed by the IMF, World Bank, EBRD, and the OECD, this report analyses the main elements necessary to deepen domestic bond markets in emerging and developing economies.

This book addresses gender differences in financial literacy and reviews policy responses and initiatives across the world to tackle women’s and girls’ needs, drawing lessons from existing experiences.

This paper examines how institutional investors can access green infrastructure, the extent to which this is currently happening, and the barriers to scaling up these investment flows. Based on four case studies, broader lessons are drawn for governments on the policy settings which may support investment in green infrastructure by institutional investors.

This paper identifies the main trends in long-term financial intermediation focusing on the role of institutional investors in providing long-term finance for growth and development. It also highlights infrastructure as one specific sector that is facing major challenges in long-term financing.

The 2013 Forum was held on 5-6 December and discussed how governments can improve their investment policy framework to reduce the risk and attract long-term private finance in support of green growth.

Discussions at the 14th roundtable focussed on quantitative easing (QE) tapering to Asia, financial regulatory reforms, financial liberalisation and fragmenting growth, long-term investment for infrastructure, financial inclusion and disaster risk financing in insurance and financial markets.

This article presents a brief overview of current financing difficulties for SMEs and policy measures to support SME lending during the crisis, and presents a literature review related to difficulties in SME’s access to finance during the crisis, against a background of a sharp decline in bank profitability and an erosion of bank capital that negatively affected lending.

Borrowing operations by OECD governments are set to decrease, as their borrowing needs continue to decline, according to a new OECD report. Net borrowing needs are projected to fall from USD 2.0 trillion in 2013 to USD 1.5 trillion in 2014, the lowest level since 2007.

Held in Amsterdam on 7 April 2014, this workshop focused on: long-term pension investment strategies under risk-based regulation; riskiness and pro-cyclicality in pension asset allocation; and, regulatory challenges for long-term illiquid assets.

This G20 report looks at the evolution of private institutional investment in infrastructure and examines how the market has developed; analyses various investment vehicles with a snapshot of the growth experienced in the market; categorises methods used for investing in infrastructure; and, highlights the challenges and barriers to investment.

Organised in Istanbul, this event focused on financial education across Europe and in Turkey, the role(s) of the private and not-for-profit sectors in financial education, financial literacy and innovation for young people and financial education for migrant workers and their families.

This brochure provides information about the OECD Project on Institutional Investors and Long-term Investment. It covers the first two years of activity following the launch of the project in February 2012. This project aims to facilitate long-term investment by institutional investors such as pension funds, insurance companies, and sovereign wealth funds, addressing both potential regulatory obstacles and market failures.

The financial crisis has led to a widespread loss of trust in financial intermediaries of all kinds, perhaps helping to open the way towards the general acceptance of alternative technologies. This paper briefly summarises the crypto-currency phenomenon, separating the ‘currency’ issues from the potential technology benefits.

This report describes the key findings from responses by 35 countries to a survey on implicit guarantees. Policy makers have announced their intention to rein in the values of implicit guarantees so it is important to measure their value to help facilitate the task of assessing progress in reducing their value.

Bank regulatory reform measures are expected to limit the value of implicit bank debt guarantees, even if not plainly targeting such values. These survey results, covering 35 countries, show that no single policy is considered capable of fully eliminating the market perception that bank debt is “special”. A mixture of different and complementary measures is seen to hold greater promise.

This blog post by Adrian Blundell-Wignall builds on a working paper he published earlier this year titled "The Bitcoin Question: Currency versus Trust-less Transfer Technology".

This blog post by Sony Kapoor, Managing Director, Re-Define International Think Tank, gives his view on why the OECD – which uniquely houses financial, development, infrastructure and environmental expertise under one roof – must take charge of promoting long-term investment in developing country infrastructure.

The infrastructure financing market has gone through a process of radical transformation starting from the mid-2000s. This article provides an overview of international trends in infrastructure finance. It proposes a map of the different investment channels that private investors can use to access the infrastructure investment on the equity and debt side, highlighting the historical evolution of these segments in the past few years.

This paper analyses the effects of government policies on flows of private finance for investment in renewable energy. It also examines whether direct provision of public finance for a project increases the volume of private finance raised. The analysis covers 87 countries, six renewable energy sectors (wind, solar, biomass, small hydropower, marine and geothermal).

Closing remarks made by the OECD Secretary-General during the Paris Club Forum, organised jointly by the Australian Presidency and the Paris Club.

Low growth, low interest rates and low returns on investment linked to the slow global economy are now compounding the problems of population ageing for both public and private pension systems, according to a new OECD report.

“Why do financial institutions and investors see so little risk, while companies investing in the real economy see so much risk?” This is perhaps the most important question facing policy makers today. This paper sets out some of the possible hypotheses for lack of investment in the world economy. It uses data drawn from 10 000 global companies in 75 advanced and emerging countries.

The global economy continues to run at low speed and many countries, particularly in Europe, seem unable to overcome the legacies of the crisis. With high unemployment, high inequality and low trust still weighing heavily, it is imperative to swiftly implement reforms that boost demand and employment and raise potential growth.

This report develops a framework that classifies investments according to different types of financing instruments and investment funds, and highlights the risk mitigants and transaction enablers that intermediaries can use to mobilise institutionally held capital.

Mr. Angel Gurría, Secretary-General of the OECD, was in Athens on 10-11 February 2015 on an official visit to Greece.

This roundtable offers a forum for regulators, policy-makers, experts, practitioners, scholars and international organisations to discuss issues relating to capital market reform in Asia.

Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are fundamental for inclusive growth and jobs, but they need to broaden their sources of finance in order to reduce their vulnerability to volatile credit market developments, according to two new OECD reports.

This report responds to a request from the G20 that the IMF and OECD assess whether further work is needed on their respective approaches to measures which are both macro-prudential and capital flow measures, taking into account their individual mandates. The report was transmitted to G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors at their meeting on 16-17 April 2015 in Washington D.C.

The 2015 OECD-GFLEC symposium is addressing financial literacy for micro, small and medium-sized enterprises and harnessing financial education to spur entrepreneurship and innovation.

The OECD hosted a workshop on green investment banks on 20 May 2015. It built upon discussions of green banks at the OECD Green Investment Financing Fora (May 2015 and June 2014) and continued international dialogue on the experiences of green banks. The workshop welcomed 9 different green banks, public financial institutions, NGOs, the private sector and over 20 countries interested in the green bank model.

The greatest puzzle today is that since the global crisis financial markets see so little risk, with asset prices rising everywhere in response to zero interest rates and quantitative easing, while companies that invest in the real economy appear see so much more risk. What can be happening?

The OECD’s Annual Meeting at Ministerial Level reinforced member governments’ support across a broad range of key OECD work.

Responsible business conduct (RBC) is an essential part of an open international investment climate. The activities of multinational enterprises often span multiple countries and many cultural, legal, and regulatory environments.

The current low interest rate environment poses a significant risk for the long-term financial viability of pension funds and insurance companies, as they seek to generate sufficient returns to meet promises, according to a new OECD report.

In a historic visit by Chinese Premier Li Keqiang to the OECD in Paris, the People’s Republic of China today decided to enhance longstanding collaboration with the OECD and to join the OECD Development Centre.

Addis Ababa - Part of the 3rd International Conference on Financing for Development, this event explored strategies to leverage Africa’s pension funds and other sources of private financing to develop Africa’s infrastructure. Ways to improve the investment climate in Africa using the recently updated Policy Framework for Investment were also be addressed.

Long-term savings and investments (LTSI) by individuals enhances their financial security while also supporting growth and financial development. Evidence shows that financial knowledge and skills are positively related to LTSI behaviour, and indicates a strong correlation between levels of financial literacy and retirement wealth accumulation.

The OECD presented today the final package of measures for a comprehensive, coherent and co-ordinated reform of the international tax rules to be discussed by G20 Finance Ministers at their meeting on 8 October, in Lima, Peru.

The reforms to the pensions system in Mexico, especially the introduction of a system of individual defined contribution accounts, have significantly improved the system’s financial sustainability.

This stocktaking report profiles the tax treatment of funded private pension plans across all OECD and EU countries. The information refers to 2015 or the latest year with available data and covers all types of funded private pension plans in each country.

29 October 2015, Paris - Resilient cities and SMEs are critical to reducing the economic disruption from climate-related disaster events. In the run up to COP21, these remarks by Adrian Blundell-Wignall at the AXA-UNEP-PSI Conference on Climate Resilience address the importance of building resilience to climate change risks at the level of cities and SMEs.

This taxonomy maps out the investment options available to private investors and the instruments and incentives available to attract private sector investment in infrastructure.

The OECD has produced assessments of country-specific investment strategies in G20 countries in order to improve the investment ecosystem, foster efficient infrastructure investment and support financing opportunities for SMEs. This booklet reproduces the highlights of these assessments which have been transmitted to G20 leaders for consideration at their Summit in November 2015..

This document outlines the objectives and key components of the framework, and presents the flexible, outcome-based, core competencies framework itself. The framework is designed to be applicable to youth aged 15 to 18, describing the basic level of financial literacy that is likely to be needed by this group to fully and safely participate in economic and financial life.

Paris, 19-20 November 2015: Bringing together senior executives representing the world’s largest institutional investors, senior policy makers and regulators, debates focused on issues affecting long-term investment, including: asset allocation concepts; regulation; governance; energy and natural resources; and, brownfield and greenfield infrastructure.

This paper reviews currency-based measures (CBMs) directed at banks in 49 countries between 2005 and 2013. These measures apply a discrimination, such as less favourable treatment, on the basis of the currency of an operation, typically foreign currencies. The new data shows that CBMs have been increasingly used in the post-crisis period, including for macro-prudential purposes.

This brochure looks at how financial education can contribute to longer term policies aimed at facilitating the integration of refugees. The provision of financial education, as a complement to supply-side financial inclusion initiatives as well as other education and health support, can support refugees and migrants by facilitating social and labour market inclusion as well as improve their (financial) well-being.

Climate change is a major political and economic challenge. This paper sketches out its relevance for the financial sector. Necessary low-carbon investments imply a significant yet manageable financing gap. Beyond capital mobilisation that has attracted most attention until now, the main challenge is ensuring a transition-consistent capital reallocation.