The Boardroom Blog
Tuesday, January 22, 2013 | Posted by: Simon Lowe
Categories:
Governance,
Thought Leadership
| Tags: governance,
CEO,
Corporate Governance,
Simon Lowe,
FTSE 350,
Corporate Governance Review,
annual report,
risk management,
diversity,
UK Corporate Governance Code,
chairman,
FTSE 100,
FTSE 250
As modern corporate governance turns 21 following the 1992 publication of the Cadbury report, we review where UK businesses are succeeding in demonstrating accountability – and the areas that still need work.
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Thursday, October 18, 2012 | Posted by: Simon Lowe
Categories:
Governance,
Thought Leadership
| Tags: governance,
CEO,
Corporate Governance,
FTSE 350,
Corporate Governance Review,
UK Corporate Governance Code,
chairman
Our interim corporate governance research into more than 240 FTSE 350 annual reports in 2011/2012 finds that while FTSE 350 chairmen are better engaged on corporate governance, many still aren’t setting a clear ‘tone from the top’.
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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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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,
comply or explain,
Turnbull,
institutional investors,
Financial Reporting Lab
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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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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Wednesday, October 26, 2011 | Posted by: Simon Lowe
Categories:
Governance
| Tags: Board,
governance,
FRC,
compliance,
FTSE 350,
diversity,
chairman,
comply or explain,
auditor,
Davies report,
transparency,
internal control,
effectiveness
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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Thursday, October 13, 2011 | Posted by: Ben Langford
Categories:
Governance,
Non-executive director
| Tags: Board,
boardroom,
FTSE 350,
women,
women in business,
gender,
diversity,
female,
review,
quotas,
directors,
representation,
Lord Davies,
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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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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Thursday, March 03, 2011 | Posted by: Ben Langford
Categories:
Governance,
Non-executive director
| Tags: statistics,
Board,
research,
compliance,
FTSE 350,
women,
gender,
diversity,
female,
review,
quotas,
30 percent club,
rotation of directors,
directors,
representation,
Lord Davies,
inclusion
Companies have a last chance to increase female representation on boards from 9% to 25%, with the threat of quotas if they fail to comply.
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Thursday, February 17, 2011 | Posted by: Fiona Cullinan
Categories:
Governance,
Research
| Tags: Board,
governance,
FRC,
FTSE 350,
non-executive director,
women,
gender,
diversity,
remuneration,
UK Corporate Governance Code,
bonuses,
NED,
chairman,
Turnbull
In the fast-changing landscape of UK corporate governance, what are the key recent changes that UK boards need to be aware of?
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Monday, February 07, 2011 | Posted by: Grant Thornton
Categories:
Corruption
| Tags: FTSE 350,
Bribery Act,
bribe,
robust internal controls,
associated persons,
adequate procedures
Sterl Greenhalgh, partner and head of Grant Thornton’s anti-corruption group, talks about adequate procedures and how businesses are not struggling to understand what they are, but cites aspects of the legislation such as ‘associated persons’ as areas causing UK business the most problems.
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Friday, December 10, 2010 | Posted by: Simon Lowe
Categories:
Governance,
Research,
Thought Leadership
| Tags: FTSE 350,
board,
Stewardship Code,
UK Corporate Governance Code,
chairman,
governance,
Our 2010 FTSE 350 Corporate Governance Code highlights key issues in governance trends in the UK’s leading companies and assesses whether they are prepared for the requirements of new governance guidance
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Wednesday, May 26, 2010 | Posted by: Grant Thornton
Categories:
Governance,
Non-executive director,
Stewardship Code
| Tags: risk,
FT,
FTSE 350,
non-executive director,
Stewardship Code,
Peter Butler,
corporate governance review
Part 2 of our interview with Peter Butler, Chief Executive and Founding Partner, Governance for Owners at the recent Financial Times Non Executive Directors’ Club on The FTSE 350 Corporate Governance Review Highlights.
Peter gave us his thoughts on the impact of the proposed Stewardship Code and the role of the Chairman.
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Wednesday, May 26, 2010 | Posted by: Grant Thornton
Categories:
Governance,
Non-executive director,
Stewardship Code
| Tags: risk,
FT,
FTSE 350,
non-executive director,
Stewardship Code,
Peter Butler,
corporate governance review
Part 1 of our interview with Peter Butler, Chief Executive and Founding Partner, Governance for Owners at the recent Financial Times Non Executive Directors’ Club on The FTSE 350 Corporate Governance Review Highlights.
Peter gave us his thoughts on the impact of the proposed Stewardship Code and the role of the Chairman.
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Thursday, May 06, 2010 | Posted by: Grant Thornton
Categories:
Corruption,
Fraud,
Governance,
Non-executive director,
Risk
| Tags: FTSE 350,
non-executive director,
UK Corporate Governance Code,
corporate governance review
The Financial Times Non-Executive Directors Club is holding a practical and interactive workshop for experienced non-executives on 10 June 2010 to discuss the implications of risk, fraud and corruption to the non-executive directors’ role.
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Monday, March 01, 2010 | Posted by: Grant Thornton
Categories:
Governance,
Non-executive director
| Tags: FT,
FRC,
Simon Lowe,
FTSE 350,
non-executive director,
Luke Johnson,
UK Corporate Governance Code,
Peter Butler,
corporate governance review,
Sir Christopher Hogg,
Seamus Gillen,
ICSA,
Financial Reporting Council,
Risk Capital Partners,
Owners
The Financial Times Non-Executive Directors Club is holding a twilight event on 11 March to discuss the implications to the non-executive directors’ role in light of recent governance releases.
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Thursday, January 28, 2010 | Posted by: Grant Thornton
Categories:
Governance
| Tags: governance,
FRC,
FTSE 350,
ICAEW,
Murray,
Audit Firm Governance Code
Grant Thornton UK LLP CEO Scott Barnes has welcomed the publication of the FRC and Continue Reading
Tuesday, January 12, 2010 | Posted by: Grant Thornton
Categories:
Governance
| Tags: Grant Thornton,
governance,
compliance,
Corporate Governance,
Simon Lowe,
FTSE 350,
Corporate Governance Review,
Walker
The results are in for the 2009 Corporate Governance Review - is it job done for the FTSE 350?
- Companies comply with, on average, 91% of the Code’s provisions
- 68% of those who choose ‘explain’ now give more informed disclosure to support their non-compliance
- Of those who ‘explain’, 75% are compliant with all but one or two Code provisions
- 66% of the FTSE 350 produce a separate corporate responsibility report
Perhaps not….
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Wednesday, December 16, 2009 | Posted by: Simon Lowe
Categories:
Governance,
Non-executive director
| Tags: risk,
FRC,
Simon Lowe,
FTSE 350,
Non-executive director,
Walker review,
Governance,
Corporate Governance review
The recent release of the Walker Review and the proposed reforms to the Combined Code set out by the FRC see further challenges set for NEDs and increased engagement by institutional investors.
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Wednesday, December 09, 2009 | Posted by: Grant Thornton
Categories:
Governance,
Non-executive director
| Tags: governance,
FT,
Corporate Governance,
Simon Lowe,
FTSE 350,
Corporate Governance Review,
Michelle Edkins,
Barclays Global Investors,
Financial Times
Interview with Michelle Edkins Managing Director, Head of Corporate Governance, Europe at Barclays Global Investors, at the launch event of the Financial Times Non-Executive Directors’ Club on 10 November 2009.
Simon Lowe, partner and author of the FTSE 350 Corporate Governance Review, was able to capture some pearls of wisdom on film, by speaking to Michelle Edkins about investor engagement and why she advises against talking about ‘corporate governance’
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