Protecting Investors

This topic measures the strength of minority shareholder protections against misuse of corporate assets by directors for their personal gain. The most recent round of data collection for the project was completed in June 2012. Read the methodology.

Use the tabs to view Protecting Investors data and analysis, reform summaries, frequent questions and related resources. Click on economy name for detailed information. Click on column headers to sort.

About Doing Business

The data and analysis appearing on this page was collected as part of the Doing Business project, which measures and compares regulations relevant to the life cycle of a small to medium-sized domestic business in 185 economies.

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Economy ▲	Protecting Investors rank	This measure of the transparency of transactions has 5 components. More informationExtent of disclosure index (0-10)	This measure of liability for self-dealing by directors has 7 components. More informationExtent of director liability index (0-10)	This measure of shareholders’ ability to sue officers and directors for misconduct has 6 components. More informationEase of shareholder suits index (0-10)	This index is an average of the Extent of Disclosure index, the Extent of Director Liability index, and the Ease of Shareholder suit index. More informationStrength of investor protection index (0-10)
East Asia & Pacific	..	5	5	6	5.4
Eastern Europe & Central Asia	..	7	5	6	5.9
Latin America & Caribbean	..	4	5	6	5.0
Middle East & North Africa	..	6	5	4	5.0
OECD high income	..	6	5	7	6.1
South Asia	..	5	4	6	5.0
Sub-Saharan Africa	..	5	4	5	4.5
Afghanistan	185	1	1	1	1.0
Albania	17	8	9	5	7.3
Algeria	82	6	6	4	5.3
Angola	70	5	6	6	5.7
Antigua and Barbuda	32	4	8	7	6.3
Argentina	117	6	2	6	4.7
Armenia	25	6	6	8	6.7
Australia	70	8	2	7	5.7
Austria	100	5	5	5	5.0
Azerbaijan	25	7	5	8	6.7
Bahamas, The	117	2	5	7	4.7
Bahrain	82	8	4	4	5.3
Bangladesh	25	6	7	7	6.7
Barbados	169	2	1	6	3.0
Belarus	82	7	1	8	5.3
Belgium	19	8	6	7	7.0
Belize	128	3	4	6	4.3
Benin	158	6	1	3	3.3
Bhutan	150	4	3	4	3.7
Bolivia	139	1	5	6	4.0
Bosnia and Herzegovina	100	3	6	6	5.0
Botswana	49	7	8	3	6.0
Brazil	82	6	7	3	5.3
Brunei Darussalam	117	4	2	8	4.7
Bulgaria	49	10	1	7	6.0
Burkina Faso	150	6	1	4	3.7
Burundi	49	8	6	4	6.0
Cambodia	82	5	9	2	5.3
Cameroon	128	6	1	6	4.3
Canada	4	8	9	9	8.7
Cape Verde	139	1	5	6	4.0
Central African Republic	139	6	1	5	4.0
Chad	158	6	1	3	3.3
Chile	32	8	6	5	6.3
China	100	10	1	4	5.0
Colombia	6	8	8	9	8.3
Comoros	139	6	1	5	4.0
Congo, Dem. Rep.	158	3	3	4	3.3
Congo, Rep.	158	6	1	3	3.3
Costa Rica	169	2	5	2	3.0
Côte d'Ivoire	158	6	1	3	3.3
Croatia	139	1	5	6	4.0
Cyprus	32	8	4	7	6.3
Czech Republic	100	2	5	8	5.0
Denmark	32	7	5	7	6.3
Djibouti	181	5	2	0	2.3
Dominica	32	4	8	7	6.3
Dominican Republic	100	5	4	6	5.0
Ecuador	139	1	5	6	4.0
Egypt, Arab Rep.	82	8	3	5	5.3
El Salvador	169	3	0	6	3.0
Equatorial Guinea	150	6	1	4	3.7
Eritrea	117	4	5	5	4.7
Estonia	70	8	3	6	5.7
Ethiopia	128	4	4	5	4.3
Fiji	49	3	8	7	6.0
Finland	70	6	4	7	5.7
France	82	10	1	5	5.3
Gabon	158	6	1	3	3.3
Gambia, The	177	2	1	5	2.7
Georgia	19	9	6	6	7.0
Germany	100	5	5	5	5.0
Ghana	49	7	5	6	6.0
Greece	117	5	4	5	4.7
Grenada	32	4	8	7	6.3
Guatemala	158	3	2	5	3.3
Guinea	177	6	1	1	2.7
Guinea-Bissau	139	6	1	5	4.0
Guyana	82	5	5	6	5.3
Haiti	169	2	3	4	3.0
Honduras	169	0	5	4	3.0
Hong Kong SAR, China	3	10	8	9	9.0
Hungary	128	2	4	7	4.3
Iceland	49	7	5	6	6.0
India	49	7	4	7	6.0
Indonesia	49	10	5	3	6.0
Iran, Islamic Rep.	150	7	4	0	3.7
Iraq	128	4	5	4	4.3
Ireland	6	10	6	9	8.3
Israel	6	7	9	9	8.3
Italy	49	7	4	7	6.0
Jamaica	82	4	8	4	5.3
Japan	19	7	6	8	7.0
Jordan	128	5	4	4	4.3
Kazakhstan	10	9	6	9	8.0
Kenya	100	3	2	10	5.0
Kiribati	49	6	5	7	6.0
Korea, Rep.	49	7	4	7	6.0
Kosovo	100	6	6	3	5.0
Kuwait	32	7	7	5	6.3
Kyrgyz Republic	13	8	7	8	7.7
Lao PDR	184	2	1	2	1.7
Latvia	70	5	4	8	5.7
Lebanon	100	9	1	5	5.0
Lesotho	100	3	4	8	5.0
Liberia	150	4	1	6	3.7
Lithuania	70	7	4	6	5.7
Luxembourg	128	6	4	3	4.3
Macedonia, FYR	19	9	7	5	7.0
Madagascar	70	5	6	6	5.7
Malawi	82	4	7	5	5.3
Malaysia	4	10	9	7	8.7
Maldives	82	0	8	8	5.3
Mali	150	6	1	4	3.7
Malta	70	3	6	8	5.7
Marshall Islands	158	2	0	8	3.3
Mauritania	150	5	3	3	3.7
Mauritius	13	6	8	9	7.7
Mexico	49	8	5	5	6.0
Micronesia, Fed. Sts.	177	0	0	8	2.7
Moldova	82	7	3	6	5.3
Mongolia	25	6	8	6	6.7
Montenegro	32	5	8	6	6.3
Morocco	100	7	2	6	5.0
Mozambique	49	5	4	9	6.0
Namibia	82	5	5	6	5.3
Nepal	82	6	1	9	5.3
Netherlands	117	4	4	6	4.7
New Zealand	1	10	9	10	9.7
Nicaragua	100	4	5	6	5.0
Niger	158	6	1	3	3.3
Nigeria	70	5	7	5	5.7
Norway	25	7	6	7	6.7
Oman	100	8	5	2	5.0
Pakistan	32	6	6	7	6.3
Palau	177	0	0	8	2.7
Panama	82	3	4	9	5.3
Papua New Guinea	49	5	5	8	6.0
Paraguay	70	6	5	6	5.7
Peru	13	9	6	8	7.7
Philippines	128	2	3	8	4.3
Poland	49	7	2	9	6.0
Portugal	49	6	5	7	6.0
Puerto Rico (U.S.)	19	7	6	8	7.0
Qatar	100	5	6	4	5.0
Romania	49	9	5	4	6.0
Russian Federation	117	6	2	6	4.7
Rwanda	32	7	9	3	6.3
Samoa	32	5	6	8	6.3
São Tomé and Príncipe	158	3	1	6	3.3
Saudi Arabia	19	9	8	4	7.0
Senegal	169	6	1	2	3.0
Serbia	82	7	6	3	5.3
Seychelles	70	4	8	5	5.7
Sierra Leone	32	6	7	6	6.3
Singapore	2	10	9	9	9.3
Slovak Republic	117	3	4	7	4.7
Slovenia	17	5	9	8	7.3
Solomon Islands	49	3	7	8	6.0
South Africa	10	8	8	8	8.0
Spain	100	5	6	4	5.0
Sri Lanka	49	6	5	7	6.0
St. Kitts and Nevis	32	4	8	7	6.3
St. Lucia	32	4	8	7	6.3
St. Vincent and the Grenadines	32	4	8	7	6.3
Sudan	158	0	6	4	3.3
Suriname	183	1	0	5	2.0
Swaziland	128	2	5	6	4.3
Sweden	32	8	4	7	6.3
Switzerland	169	0	5	4	3.0
Syrian Arab Republic	117	7	5	2	4.7
Taiwan, China	32	9	5	5	6.3
Tajikistan	25	8	6	6	6.7
Tanzania	100	3	4	8	5.0
Thailand	13	10	7	6	7.7
Timor-Leste	139	3	4	5	4.0
Togo	150	6	1	4	3.7
Tonga	117	3	3	8	4.7
Trinidad and Tobago	25	4	9	7	6.7
Tunisia	49	5	7	6	6.0
Turkey	70	9	4	4	5.7
Uganda	139	2	5	5	4.0
Ukraine	117	5	2	7	4.7
United Arab Emirates	128	4	7	2	4.3
United Kingdom	10	10	7	7	8.0
United States	6	7	9	9	8.3
Uruguay	100	3	4	8	5.0
Uzbekistan	139	4	1	7	4.0
Vanuatu	82	5	6	5	5.3
Venezuela, RB	181	3	2	2	2.3
Vietnam	169	6	1	2	3.0
West Bank and Gaza	49	6	5	7	6.0
Yemen, Rep.	139	6	4	2	4.0
Zambia	82	3	6	7	5.3
Zimbabwe	128	8	1	4	4.3

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