B-READY 2024 is now released!

Incorrect! This is TRUE. Incorporating a firm with foreign ownership takes, on average, 7.47 days longer than incorporating a firm with domestic ownership (considering the sample of surveyed economies).

Incorrect! This is TRUE. For Business Entry, within the subset of economies assessed, no economy presents a weak performance in the Regulatory Framework pillar (Pillar I). All B-READY 2024 economies have regulatory framework that aligns closely with international good practices and facilitates entrepreneurial activity by minimizing unnecessary restrictions.

Incorrect! This is FALSE. Business Entry has the highest average score (67 points out of 100) across all topics.

Incorrect! This is FALSE. Most of the economies surveyed already adopted beneficial ownership legislation. Beneficial ownership requirements are a new area covered and measured by the Business Entry topic. Mandatory beneficial ownership requirements are good practice that can help prevent the misuse of corporate vehicles for illicit purposes and promote a safe environment for business start-ups.

Incorrect! This is TRUE. Only one in five measured economies offer builders incentives to promote green building standards.

Incorrect! This is TRUE. In 94% of measured economies, verification of identity of each party engaged in a property transaction is required.

Incorrect! This is FALSE. A fully functional database for checking encumbrances exists in less than half of measured economies.

Incorrect! This is FALSE. Almost all measured economies have national or local regulations or standards related to pollution and waste management in construction activities.

Incorrect! This is FALSE. Upper-middle-income economies have the highest adoption of e-payments for electricity tariffs, followed by high-income economies.

Incorrect! This is TRUE. In 66% of the economies, Key Performance Indicators for the sustainability of electricity supply are not available online.

Incorrect! This is FALSE. Independent complaint mechanisms for water services are most widespread in the lower-middle income group, followed by high-income economies.

Incorrect! This is TRUE. 70% of economies do not have any reporting or disclosure standards in this aspect.

Incorrect! This is TRUE. 90% of the surveyed economies protect the right to collective bargaining.

Incorrect! This is FALSE. Not all economies measured in B-READY 2024 have occupational safety and health legislation for all workers. 7% do not have legislation on this matter.

Incorrect! This is TRUE. 84% of economies have no restrictions on the use of fixed-term contracts for any type of task.

Incorrect! This is FALSE. Just 76% of the surveyed economies have a minimum age of admission to work at 15 and above, while 22% of countries have a minimum age for employment below 15, and 2% do not regulate this matter.

Incorrect! This is TRUE. 15% of firms in low-income economies report complex procedures as the primary reason for not applying for loans, compared to only 2% of firms in high-income economies.

Incorrect! This is FALSE. While 91% of surveyed economies have cybersecurity requirements for bank payment service providers, only 76% of them have such requirements for non-bank payment service providers.

Incorrect! This is FALSE. 71% of credit bureaus and registries provide credit scores in low-income economies, compared to only 56% in high-income economies.

Incorrect! This is TRUE. In 90% of the measured economies, regulatory frameworks allow parties in a security interest agreement to bypass the courts and enforce their rights through methods like private sales, public auctions, or pactum commisorium.

Incorrect! This is TRUE. All high-income economies covered by the report enforce the legal validity of foreign issued electronic contracts and signatures. At the same time, only 4 out of 7 low-income economies do so.

Incorrect! This is TRUE. 38 of the 50 covered economies have implemented a Trusted Trader program. 

Incorrect! This is TRUE. The share of firms that identify customs and trade regulations as a major or severe obstacle to trade is lower than the share of firms that identify transportation as a major or severe obstacle.

Incorrect! This is FALSE. In some economies, import compliance costs are as high as 66% of the value of goods and export compliance costs reach 38%.

Incorrect! This is FALSE. 60% of the measured economies publish online their full future tax plans, including, for example, a multi-year strategic plans, reform plans, or annual operational plans. 

Incorrect! This is TRUE. Over half of the assessed economies allow taxpayers to appeal tax audit results to an independent complaint review body within the tax administration. And another 20% of the economies have an external independent review mechanism instead. In the remaining 25% of measured economies no independent tax review mechanism (internal nor external) is available

Incorrect! This is FALSE. While almost all economies publish the timeline for all types of tax registration, only one-third of B-READY 2024 economies disclose all tax registration fees (or explicitly mention it when the registration is free of charge).

Incorrect! This is TRUE. While the typical tax audit time ranges from 1 to 21 weeks, in half of the economies, tax audits are usually completed in 4 weeks or less.

Incorrect! This is TRUE. In none of 7 low-income economies covered by B-READY 2024, enforcement agents are explicitly authorized to seize electronic assets, including cryptocurrency.

Incorrect! This is FALSE. 64% of B-READY 2024 economies offer a possibility to conduct court hearings virtually.

Incorrect! This is FALSE. In 14% of B-READY 2024 economies, mediation still does not exist in practice.

Incorrect! This is TRUE. In high-income economies, it takes almost 600 days to resolve a commercial dispute at the first instance level. This time is lower in all other income groups.

Incorrect! This is FALSE. Only 38% of economies have an online platform allowing entrepreneurs to e-manage intellectual property rights.

Incorrect! This is TRUE. 88% of B-READY 2024 economies provide protection for well-known marks.

Incorrect! This is TRUE. Most of B-READY 2024 economies expect procuring entities to tender openly by default.

Incorrect! This is FALSE. 58% of economies e-publish their award decisions in practice.

Incorrect! This is FALSE. Amongst the 50 B-READY economies, 6 do not have a de facto practice in judicial reorganization or judicial liquidation.

Incorrect! This is TRUE. Only a small subset of economies (7 out of 50) conducts electronic auctions at the relevant court, as measured by the Business Insolvency topic.

Incorrect! This is FALSE. Business Insolvency is characterized by most economies showing weak performance in Public Services. Almost three-quarters of B-READY economies (37 economies) score less than 50 out of 100 on this area.

Incorrect! This is FALSE. Only 44 percent of reviewed economies have courts with specialized expertise in insolvency.