Privatization

Privatization is a transaction or series of transactions reliant upon sound laws and defensible property rights. It is also a process by which governments convert state-owned businesses into corporations, undertake financial and operational restructuring to prepare enterprises for sale, define procedures to ensure transparency and fairness, and allocate proceeds.

Privatization laws provide authority to government agencies and clarify the rights of investors, both domestic and foreign, to participate. These laws are supported by elements of the wider legal framework such as corporations and capital markets laws.

This page provides analyses of legal issues arising in the course of privatization, as well as illustrative examples of good practice privatization laws.

Resources

• Legal Guidelines for Privatization Programs(135K PDF), Douglas Webb. This paper identifies legal issues arising in the design of privatization programs. The paper does not specifically discuss legal issues arising in small scale privatization of retailed service sectors or mass privatization programs involving distributions to the general public.
• Law on Privatization (Civil Law System)(233K PDF). This law is a composite of a number of examples of privatization laws enacted in civil law jurisdictions. It is not intended to be a model law, but rather to provide an illustration of possible approaches to key drafting issues in the preparation of such a law.
• Law on Privatization (Common Law System) (220K PDF). This law is a composite of a number of examples of privatization laws enacted in common law jurisdictions. It is not intended to be a model law, but rather to provide an illustration of possible approaches to key drafting issues in the preparation of such a law.