This report provides an evidence-based overview of developments in capital markets globally leading up to the COVID-19 crisis. It then documents the impact of the crisis on the use of capital markets and the introduction of temporary corporate governance measures. Although the structural effects of the crisis on capital markets and its interplay with corporate governance remain to be fully understood, this report presents trends that can be used to shape policies that will support the recovery and formulates key policy messages that will guide the upcoming review of the G20/OECD Principles of Corporate Governance. The report emphasises that the road to recovery will require well-functioning capital markets that can allocate substantial financial resources for long-term investments. It also highlights the need to adapt corporate governance rules and practices to the post-COVID-19 reality, particularly in areas such as increased ownership concentration; environmental, social and governance (ESG) risk management; digitalisation; insolvency; audit quality and creditor rights.

About the Speaker:
Yun Tang is an Economist in the Corporate Governance and Corporate Finance Division at the OECD. She has researched extensively on capital markets and corporate governance issues, including on corporate access to finance, institutional investors, ownership structure and market structures. Her current work focuses on the impact of the Covid-19 crisis on corporate governance practices, corporate ownership structures and capital markets. She has been part of the OECD team advising Italy, Portugal, Croatia and Romania on how to make capital markets more efficient. She has also been part of the team producing the Asia Equity Market Review that follows and analyses trends in Asian public equity markets. She holds a Ph.D. in Finance from the Norwegian School of Economics. Recently, she published a paper on how languages affect R&D spending in the Journal of Corporate Finance, which was also featured in the Harvard Business Review.

The Law Society of Hong Kong has awarded this seminar 1.5 Continuing Professional Development (CPD) points.