OECD Codes of Liberalisation of Capital Movements and of Current Invisible Operations

The Code of Liberalisation of Capital Movements and the Code of Liberalisation of Current Invisible Operations constitute legally binding rules, stipulating progressive, non-discriminatory liberalisation of capital movements, the right of establishment and current invisible transactions (mostly services).

Implementation of the Codes, in particular by removal of restrictions on cross-border capital flows and trade in services and the concomitant lifting of country reservations against the Codes, involves "peer pressure" exercised through policy reviews and country examinations to encourage unilateral rather than negotiated liberalisation.

OECD Codes of Liberalisation of Capital Movements and Current Invisible Operations: Users' Guide 2008

The purpose of this User's Guide is to contribute to a better understanding of the principles and procedures of the OECD Codes. It also provides detailed explanations of the coverage of the Codes and may therefore serve as a manual for Code users.  First published in 2003, the 2008 version has been adjusted to take recent developments into account, specifically, revised insurance and private pensions provisions of the Code of Liberalisation of Current Invisible Operations..

OECD Code of Liberalisation of Capital Movements

This publication presents the full text of the OECD Code of Liberalisation of Capital Movements and sets out the legally binding obligations that OECD members have accepted. The Code is regularly updated by decisions of the OECD Council. It serves as a reference manual to the obligations of members under the Code and to the degree of liberalisation achieved by each member country in regard to capital movements.

• 2007 Update - This document, available in pdf file format, reflects all changes in the positions of members up to November 2007.
• 2003 Edition - This OECD publication, can be browsed or ordered via the OECD Bookshop. It reflects all changes in the positions of members up to 27 March 2003.

Forty Years' Experience with the OECD Code of Liberalisation of Capital Movements

The OECD has actively promoted progressive liberalisation of current and capital account operations among its members for over 40 years. Since 1961, OECD countries have engaged in the opening of capital accounts, guided by the provisions and implementation procedures embodied in a unique multilateral instrument: the Code of Liberalisation of Capital Movements. While full freedom of capital movements was achieved by most OECD members more than a decade ago, and in some even earlier, new members (Korea, Mexico, Poland, the Czech Republic, Hungary and the Slovak Republic) have only recently attained the same level of liberalisation.

This account of the accumulated OECD experience with capital account liberalisation provides timely and valuable reading for policy makers, academics and financial practitioners alike. Timely, as the debateon the pros and cons of external financial liberalisation by emerging markets is very active at the present juncture. Valuable, because the OECD experience clearly demonstrates the benefits of open capital accounts, as vouched for by the reluctance of its members to resort to restrictions on capital flows -- even in times of financial turmoil.

OECD Code of Liberalisation of Current Invisible Operations: 2008

This publication presents the full text of the Code of Liberalisation of Current Invisible Operations under which OECD Members have accepted legally binding obligations. This edition shows all changes in the positions of Members as updated by Decisions of the OECD Council as of February 2008 and includes revised insurance and private pensions provisions of the Code which were adopted by the OECD Council on 19 February 2008. It allows a comparison of the degree of liberalisation achieved by each Member country in regard to the international transactions covered by the Code, including services related to business, industry and foreign trade, transport, insurance and pensions, banking and finance, cinema and television, and travel and tourism.