This statement on corporate governance for shareholder-owned MFIs provides practical guidance for stakeholders in governance – investors and prospective investors, board members, and senior MFI managers – to use in and assessing the governance of their own MFIs. Although numerous statements are available on corporate governance and even corporate governance of microfinance institutions, the Council wrote this document to provide guidance tailored to shareholder-owned MFIs and to contribute to an active process of improving governance among its members and the microfinance industry as a whole.