This report examines the approaches adopted in 23 OECD and EU countries for evaluating the performance and cost-effectiveness of publicly supported credit guarantee programmes for SMEs.

11 December 2017, OECD Paris - The 8th annual OECD high-level breakfast event brings together leading investors and senior government officials for informal, focused dialogue, to examine key developments and identify solutions to enable achievement of NDCs and the two-degree commitment.

This report provides a series of policy recommendations aimed at enhancing the contribution of the cyber insurance market to managing this increasingly prevalent risk. The report examines the current state of the market and the obstacles that are impeding the market from reaching its full potential

25-26 January 2018 - The first annual meeting of the G20 Global Infrastructure Connectivity Alliance will bring together policy makers and practitioners to discuss the state of play in global connectivity, innovative practices and the outlook for connectivity.

Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are increasingly turning to alternative sources of financing, while new bank lending is declining in a number of countries. Many SMEs remain over-reliant on bank credit, however, and the take-up of instruments other than straight debt varies greatly from one country to another, according to a new OECD report.

With the growth of cybercrime, and intensive media coverage of privacy breaches and ransomware attacks over the last year, could complacency about cyber risks soon be a thing of the past? Bill Below and Leigh Wolfrom of the OECD Directorate for Financial and Enterprise Affairs look at some of the challenges to insuring cyber risk.

22-23 February 2018, Paris - The potential role of the nascent cyber insurance market in enhancing cyber resilience is increasingly being recognised by policy makers. This conference provided an opportunity to exchange knowledge and share experiences on addressing the challenges impeding the development of the cyber insurance market.

23 February 2018, Dublin - This event focussed on how to build better retirement by ensuring value for money, implementing automatic enrolment and designing retirement pay-outs.

The roundtable offers a forum for regulators, policy makers, experts, practitioners, scholars and international organisations in Asia. This year’s edition will focus on recent developments in capital markets and on capital markets of the future.

Riding the wave of technological innovation in finance, the robo-advice model has emerged as one potential solution to increase the accessibility and affordability of getting help to invest savings for retirement. OECD's Jessica Mosher looks at the potential benefits, risks and challenges.

Mr. Angel Gurría, Secretary-General of the OECD, in Buenos Aires, 18-20 March 2018

Focusing on Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru, Maria José Roa, a Senior Researcher at the Center for Latin American Monetary Studies, looks at how financial literacy survey results can play a role in the development of financial inclusion strategies

Leading actors across the green finance and investment community talk to the OECD about what has to be done to achieve the objectives of the Paris Agreement and the broader set of environmental objectives linked to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

This publication compiles a series of articles that focus on the impact of digitalisation and technology in the areas of financial markets, insurance, and private pensions. It also discusses the tools and policies needed to ensure that the challenges posed by digitalisation result in better outcomes and better management of the risks involved.

The survey monitors and compares the investment behaviour, asset levels, and performances of the largest institutional investors in each region or country covered and analyses in greater depth the general trends observed at a national level.

25-26 April 2018, Tokyo - This event will bring together key stakeholders from the Asia Pacific region to discuss policy issues relevant to the sound development of insurance and private pensions markets.

Although financial inclusion levels have improved in all Southeast Asian countries in recent years, levels remain relatively low in some countries. This report evaluates current levels of financial inclusion and financial literacy in Southeast Asia and describes the policies and programmes developed to support financial inclusion, education and consumer protection.

Paris, 15-16 May 2018 - This workshop will focus on recent developments and main policy challenges related to the emergence of digital financial assets. Discussions will cover monetary policy and financial systems, regulation, firms’ business and funding models, and taxation.

18 May 2018, Paris, France: The 2018 symposium focused on the relationship between financial education policies and broad economic, financial and social outcomes, including its role in supporting sustainable and inclusive growth.

Paris, 25 May 2018 - Following a keynote speech from Emmanuelle Auriol, Professor at Toulouse School of Economics and Chair of Women in Economics of the European Economic Association, discussions at this event will explore some of the issues emerging from the gender biases evident in the field of economics.

Behavioural insights have the potential to enhance the effectiveness of financial literacy and investor education initiatives. This IOSCO/OECD report explores the extent to which they are being used, reviews the available literature and presents various approaches for policy makers and practitioners to consider when seeking to change financial behaviour.

This publication applies the lessons from the OECD’s analysis of disaster risk financing practices and the development of guidance to the specific case of earthquakes. This report provides an overview of the approaches that economies facing various levels of earthquake risk and economic development have taken to managing the financial impacts of earthquakes.

18 June 2018 - Preliminary data for 2017 show an increase in life and/or non-life gross premiums of domestic insurance companies in 40 out of the 43 reporting countries, compared to 2016.

Weak labour productivity growth continues to mark the world’s advanced economies and risks compromising improvements in living standards, says a new OECD report.

29 June 2018 - This keynote address focuses on the three main forces driving change in the financial sector: the growing importance of trust; the accelerating digitalisation of the economy; and the unprecedented interconnectedness of global markets. This keynote address was made by Greg Medcraft, OECD Director of Financial and Enterprise Affairs, at the Annual Conference of the Cambridge Centre for Alternative Finance.

The increasingly digital environment for financial products and services and the potential for digitalisation to support greater financial inclusion and inclusive growth, makes effective financial consumer protection more important than ever. This policy guidance focuses on areas related to the role of oversight bodies and disclosure and transparency.

The digitalisation of financial products and services, and the consequent need to strengthen digital financial literacy has become an important component of the global policy-making agenda. This guidance aims to identify and promote effective initiatives that enhance digital and financial literacy in light of the unique characteristics, advantages, and risks of digital financial services and channels.

A new OECD report, the 2018 Business and Finance Outlook, highlights a number of major risks having the potential to disrupt global economic growth. It notes that the gradual normalisation of monetary policy in an environment of growing debt will be a major test of whether the Basel III regulatory reforms have achieved their goal of ensuring safety and soundness in the financial system.

Mr. Angel Gurría, Secretary-General of the OECD, was in Vienna on 7-8 September 2018 to attend the Eurogroup Meeting / Informal Meeting of Economic and Financial Affairs Ministers (ECOFIN).

This seminar, jointly organised by the OECD and the Ministry of Finance of Japan, will address quality infrastructure investment, governance, planning and technology issues as well as data collection and benchmarking for quality infrastructure. It is taking place on 12-13 September 2018, in Tokyo, Japan.

This document contains a high-level, outcome-based, internationally relevant, core competencies framework on financial literacy for micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) and potential entrepreneurs. It highlights a range of outcomes that may be important to sustain or improve their financial literacy.

4-5 October 2018, Moscow, Russian Federation: The symposium will focus on innovative implementation approaches to deliver global progress on financial literacy.

25-26 October 2018, Beijing, China - The 2018 Global Forum was entitled “Designing pension systems to cope with the ageing challenge” and was jointly organised by the OECD, the International Organisation of Pension Supervisors (IOPS) and the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission (CBIRC), China.

26/10/2018 - The OECD Committee on Financial Markets has confirmed the appointment of Aerdt Houben, Director of the Financial Markets Division at De Nederlandsche Bank, as its Chair.

15 November 2018, Paris - This Workshop will bring together academics, public stakeholders and industry experts to discuss using blockchain technology to unlock data for AI and financial sustainability and quality benchmarks

21/11/2018 - The OECD is currently updating its 1977 Recommendation on Consumer Protection in the field of Consumer Credit to ensure that it remains the relevant international standard. The draft text is available for public comment until 21 December 2018.

26-27 November 2018, Vientiane, Lao People's Democratic Republic. The conference will provide a forum to discuss best practices on developing financial education and consumer protection in supporting financial inclusion in Lao P.D.R and other Southeast Asian countries.

The OECD, UN Environment and World Bank Group today called on leaders of G20 countries to do more to enable a radical shift of investment into low-carbon, climate-resilient infrastructure as a way to limit the impact of climate change.

3 December 2018 - Every two years, the OECD Pensions Outlook provides an analysis of the main policy issues affecting pensions in OECD countries and assesses trends in retirement income systems. It discusses policy initiatives for strengthening pension systems, funded private pension systems in particular.

This report makes use of a unique set of data on premiums and claims provided by global reinsurance companies to examine the contribution that reinsurance has made to enhancing the capacity of the primary insurance market to manage catastrophe risk and to reducing the economic and insurance market disruption that often follows catastrophic events.

This report analyses the emergence and potential of ICOs as a financing mechanism for start-ups and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), examines the benefits and challenges of this mechanism for small businesses and investors, and discusses policy implications of ICO activity for inclusive financing of SMEs and the real economy.

30 January 2019, Singapore - This Workshop will bring together academics, public stakeholders and industry experts to discuss data collection and benchmarks for quality infrastructure investment and blockchain and innovation in sustainable infrastructure.

8/2/2019 - Gross borrowings of OECD governments from the markets are set to reach a new record level in 2019 by exceeding USD 11 trillion. While government funding needs in the wake of the financial crisis increased in most OECD countries, the recent further increase is confined to a few countries, particularly the United States.

While China’s overall debt-to-GDP ratio is not particularly high, its non-financial corporate debt relative to GDP is higher than in other major economies.

25 February 2019 - Corporate bond markets have become an increasingly important source of financing for non-financial companies since the global financial crisis. The total outstanding debt in the form of corporate bonds reached USD 13 trillion as of end-2018. In real terms, this is twice as much as in 2008. This paper documents a number of associated risks and vulnerabilities.

Global outstanding debt in the form of corporate bonds issued by non-financial companies has hit record levels, reaching almost USD 13 trillion at the end of 2018. This is double the amount outstanding in real terms before the 2008 financial crisis, according to a new OECD paper.

The Roundtable offers a forum for regulators, policy makers, experts, practitioners, scholars and international organisations in Asia. This year’s edition will focus on recent developments in capital markets, future capital markets facing the challenge of new financial technology and responsible, viable, and lifecycle infrastructure investments.

07/03/2019 - The OECD Insurance and Private Pensions Committee (IPPC) has confirmed the appointment of Mr Yoshihiro Kawai, Advisor to the Commissioner, Japan Financial Services Agency, as its Chair.

7 March 2019 - The International Conference on Pension Supervision and Regulation this year will focus on Options for creating sustainable pension systems in emerging markets and will take place in New Delhi, India.

A robust and resilient anti-money laundering and combating of terrorism financing (AML/CFT) regime is the first step towards being able to implement effective legal, regulatory and operational measures. This document describes recommendations made by the OECD in relation to Latvia’s efforts to strengthen its AML/CFT supervisory and control systems.