Grant Thornton: The Boardroom Blog

Comply or explain: three ways to make a meaningful explanation

Thursday, March 15, 2012 | Posted by: Ben Langford
Categories: Governance, Thought Leadership | Tags: governance, FRC, Corporate Governance, FTSE 350, financial reporting, UK Corporate Governance Code, comply or explain, narrative reporting, institutional investors

Corporate governance compliance appears to have plateaued so the focus is now on explaining why a company has not complied and acted the way it has.

Here we review the current mindset behind the ‘comply or explain’ principle, which underpins corporate governance in the UK, and look at three suggestions to improve the quality of explanations.

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Quoted Company Awards 2012 winners list

Wednesday, January 25, 2012 | Posted by: Fiona Cullinan
| Tags: Grant Thornton, awards, Quoted Company Awards, QCA, winners, Philip Secrett, categories

Ten new stars of British business were crowned tonight at the annual Grant Thornton Quoted Company Awards in London. The high-profile event, attended by more than 800 guests from the City, recognises the talent and achievements of smaller quoted companies and entrepreneurs in the marketplace. So, who came out on top?

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‘Comply or explain’ is working, says FRC

Wednesday, December 14, 2011 | Posted by: Ben Langford
Categories: Governance, Stewardship Code, Thought Leadership | Tags: governance, FRC, Corporate Governance, FTSE 350, Corporate Governance Review, Stewardship Code, UK Corporate Governance Code, guidance, Turnbull, comply or explain, Financial Reporting Lab, institutional investors

The Financial Reporting Council (FRC), which oversees the UK’s corporate governance codes, released a new report today showing a strong uptake of new provisions among companies and shareholders. But the review also highlights some ongoing areas of concern…

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Corporate Governance Review 2011: Four areas for FTSE 350 to refocus on

Tuesday, November 22, 2011 | Posted by: Simon Lowe
Categories: Governance, Thought Leadership | Tags: governance, risk, Corporate Governance, Simon Lowe, FTSE 350, Corporate Governance Review, annual report, risk management, diversity, chairman, principal risks, comply or explain, annual reports, FTSE 100, FTSE 250

Our 10th annual Corporate Governance Review highlights the current trends and challenges that face the FTSE 350. While the UK’s top performing companies have made considerable achievements over the last decade, the review shows where the new focus areas lie.

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New UK Takeover Code changes explained post-Cadbury/Kraft

Tuesday, November 15, 2011 | Posted by: Grant Thornton
Categories: Governance, Thought Leadership | Tags: report, M&A, finance, mergers, acquisitions, Cadbury, Takeover Code, Kraft, takeover panel, takeovers, hostile

The acquisition of Cadbury plc by the US-based Kraft Food Inc in 2010 caused a public outcry and political debate on the UK takeover regime. As a result, new rules have come into force on UK public company takeovers. What are the key amendments, and how will they impact future M&A and takeover activity?

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Social media risk management for board directors

Tuesday, November 01, 2011 | Posted by: Paul Mewett
Categories: Risk | Tags: report, risk, Board, advice, risk management, guide, social media, Strategy, Twitter, crisis, reputation, Facebook, Alan Joyce, PR, Qantas, monitoring, Internet Intelligence

Social media – what’s the worst that can happen? Quite a lot, as Qantas found out, when a social media crisis hit both its share price and its world-famous reputation for safety. Grant Thornton’s Internet Intelligence team reviews the story and suggests ways in which companies can implement a social media risk management strategy.

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Highlights from the 2011 FTSE 350 Corporate Governance Review

Wednesday, October 26, 2011 | Posted by: Simon Lowe
Categories: Governance | Tags: governance, FRC, Board, compliance, FTSE 350, diversity, chairman, comply or explain, auditor, Davies report, transparency, effectiveness, internal control

Discover the key findings on compliance, board diversity, remuneration and other governance issues in our FTSE 350 Corporate Governance Review, published next month.

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Pressure remains on companies to improve female representation on boards

Thursday, October 13, 2011 | Posted by: Ben Langford
Categories: Governance, Non-executive director | Tags: Board, FTSE 350, women, boardroom, gender, women in business, diversity, female, review, quotas, Lord Davies, directors, representation, Ben Langford, Davies report

Fresh changes to the UK Corporate Governance Code by the Financial Reporting Council (FRC) this week seek to “strengthen the principle of boardroom diversity” – and companies are being urged to respond rapidly.

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The future of narrative reporting

Thursday, October 13, 2011 | Posted by: Simon Lowe
Categories: FRC, Governance | Tags: governance, FRC, Corporate Governance, Simon Lowe, FTSE 350, Corporate Governance Review, financial reporting, BIS, annual reports, IIRC, Ben Langford, narrative reporting

Government plans to rationalise the structure, format and content of annual reports are aimed to improve clarity for investors.

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Are UK businesswomen more likely to be CEOs, FDs or in another director role?

Thursday, September 01, 2011 | Posted by: Fiona Cullinan
Categories: Research, Thought Leadership | Tags: business, statistics, report, survey, UK, data, Board, CEO, FD, CFO, finance director, women, gender, IBR, women in business, diversity, infographic, International Business Report

Find out which senior management positions UK businesswomen are getting with our visualisation of data from the 2011 Grant Thornton International Business Report (IBR), which reveals the distribution of roles across UK boardrooms.

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Six employment tax deadlines for your 2011 diary

Wednesday, May 18, 2011 | Posted by: Fiona Cullinan
| Tags: FD, CFO, finance director, NIC, 2011, PAYE, P11Db, P9d, P11d, P35, deadlines, P14, dates, Class 1A

Finance directors and CFOs, make sure you are aware of these key employment tax dates, beginning with tomorrow’s 19 May deadline for submitting P14s and P35s.

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We are Auditor of the Year for the second year running!

Wednesday, May 11, 2011 | Posted by: Grant Thornton
Categories: Governance | Tags: Grant Thornton, survey, FD, finance director, ICAEW, Michael Izza, Phil Crooks, Audit, FD Excellance Awards, Awards

On Tuesday night, Grant Thornton was announced as the winner of the Auditor of the Year (Large Six) category at The FDs’ Excellence Awards for the second year running.

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Bribery Act: seven weeks left to act

Tuesday, May 10, 2011 | Posted by: Fiona Cullinan
Categories: Corruption, Thought Leadership | Tags: risk, due diligence, Bribery Act, legislation, bribery, anti-corruption, corruption, anti-corruption legislation, assessment

The UK Bribery Act comes into force on 1 July 2011 and in our experience companies underestimate the time required to implement an anti-corruption strategy. So for those who have yet to act, and have less than two months to do so, what do you need to know?

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What’s new for FDs in 2011

Friday, May 06, 2011 | Posted by: Fiona Cullinan
Categories: FRC, Governance, Thought Leadership | Tags: governance, report, pensions, FD, CFO, finance director, Bribery Act, financial reporting, guide, anti-corruption, IFRS, news, UK GAAP, iXBRL, regulatory, auto-enrolment

Are you a finance director? Here’s a quick guide to all the new financial reporting issues and regulatory changes set to impact private and listed companies this year.

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Are you getting all you can from your support services?

Wednesday, April 20, 2011 | Posted by: Grant Thornton
| Tags: not for profit, colleges, consulting, performance improvement

Our Performance Improvement team have been working with several colleges to identify efficiencies in how they deliver support activities and have helped our clients realise substantial cost savings as a result. To find out more, watch our podcast…

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Corporate governance framework for European companies: what needs to be improved?

Tuesday, April 12, 2011 | Posted by: Fiona Cullinan
Categories: Governance | Tags: governance, Board, Corporate Governance, Simon Lowe, women, gender, UK Corporate Governance Code, diversity, Europe, guidance, comply or explain, debate

Last week the European Commission launched a public consultation into European corporate governance, its effectiveness and possible ways forward. On the discussion agenda are board effectiveness, gender diversity, short-termism and the failure of self-regulation prior to the economic crisis. Read on to join the debate.

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Essentials unravelled for non-executive directors

Tuesday, April 05, 2011 | Posted by: Fiona Cullinan
Categories: FRC, Governance, Non-executive director, Thought Leadership | Tags: tax, governance, report, FRC, Board, pensions, Bribery Act, financial reporting, UK Corporate Governance Code, NEDs, NED, FRRP, iXBRL, guidance, auto-enrolment

What issues will be topical during the current reporting cycle for private and non-listed companies? And what are their wider business concerns? Grant Thornton’s new guide helps non-executive directors (NEDs) understand the issues.

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