The EMPEA Guidelines identify elements of legal and tax regimes that experience from other markets has demonstrated will help attract robust international and local private equity and venture capital investment. The Guidelines are intended to serve as a general framework for constructive dialogue amongst all stakeholders – policymakers, regulators and investors – to strike a balance between effective protections and overly restrictive regulatory approaches that stymie investment flows. Already a part of conversations with policy makers and regulators in Africa and Asia, the Guidelines represent another step in EMPEA’s efforts to inform regulatory approaches that will increase private equity flows and spur economic development.

EMPEA Guidelines: Key Elements

The guidelines comprise 10 specific topics important to private investment and should be read in conjunction with the detail and supporting materials that follow.

  1. Effective, clear and flexible corporate and securities laws, with the ability to negotiate rights in capital structures.
  2. Conformity to international standards of business integrity and anti-corruption.
  3. Clear, consistent and internationally competitive taxation.
  4. Reliable and consistent approach to dispute resolution and enforcement.
  5. Non-discriminatory treatment of cross-border investment.
  6. Efficient, transparent and fair regulatory environment.
  7. Transparent and reliable rules for expropriation.
  8. Stable and fair framework for property rights.
  9. Flexibility in insolvency proceedings and fairness for stakeholders.
  10. Ability to contract freely, with minimum prescription by statute.