Washington DC, June 16, 2004.-
The International Finance Corporation, the private sector arm of the World Bank Group, is hosting a conference in Paris today that will gather top international financial institutions to discuss ways to improve corporate governance in the companies they finance and support in emerging markets.
The conference,
Working Together Towards a Consistent Approach on Corporate Governance,
addresses international agencies’ increasing need to evaluate corporate governance of companies and to help these firms improve their corporate governance structures and practices. Improved management, increased access to all types of external finance, and higher market valuations are some of the benefits companies derive from better corporate governance.
This one-day conference will share the IFC Corporate Governance Methodology, which is used in appraising the corporate governance of investee companies. The IFC CG Methodology is based on the OECD Principles of Corporate Governance and incorporates lessons IFC has learned from its investments in over 80 countries.
The other participating institutions will also introduce their approaches to assessing the governance of their clients, and together the attendees will explore how to collaborate and improve the quality and consistency of their methodologies.
Participating Institutions include:
ADB: Asian Development Bank
COFIDES: Spain's Agency for the Financing of Development
EBRD: European Bank for Reconstruction and Development
EIB: European Investment Bank
FMO: Netherlands Development Finance Company
IADB: Inter-American Development Bank
IFU: Industrialization Fund for Developing Countries (Denmark)
IoD: Institute of Directors (UK)
JBIC: Japan Bank for International Cooperation
NORFUND: Norwegian Investment Fund for Developing Countries
OECD: Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development
IFC is a recognized leader in corporate governance. IFC has collaborated with the OECD in organizing regional corporate governance roundtables and cosponsors the roundtable in Latin America. Corporate governance is one of the pillars of IFC’s focus on sustainability, along with environmental and social sustainability.
IFC's mission (
www.ifc.org
) is to promote sustainable private sector investment in developing countries, helping to reduce poverty and improve people's lives. IFC finances private sector investments in the developing world, mobilizes capital in the international financial markets, helps clients improve social and environmental sustainability, and provides technical assistance and advice to governments and businesses.
