The global investment landscape is changing. Investors are under increasing pressure to consider carefully the long-term sustainability of their investments and to demonstrate that their engagement and investment strategies are designed and executed with the best interests of the end-beneficiaries in mind. The revised UK Stewardship Code, published on 24 October is evidence of this.…

October 25, 2019 Read more >

FRC’s transition to ARGA sailing into in the Doldrums In our July Newsletter, we wrote about the Financial Reporting Council’s (“FRC”) programme of transition into the Audit, Reporting and Governance Authority (“ARGA”), a statutory body with enhanced regulatory powers to address corporate governance failures and audit malpractice. What, if anything, has happened in the meantime…

October 25, 2019 Read more >

The recent changes proposed by the FCA due to the Woodford Investments situation should be an important reminder to private companies as well as listed ones Recently, the FCA advised that it would finally be going ahead with a rule change that it proposed last October. Under this change of rules, a new investment category…

October 24, 2019 Read more >

New UK Stewardship Code comes into force on 1 January 2020 The Financial Reporting Council (FRC) has made significant changes to the UK Stewardship Code which will come into effect in January 2020. The Code will then require Investment Companies to report annually on their “stewardship activity”. Changes to the code include: • Extending the…

October 24, 2019 Read more >

Increasingly investors look into how organisations are governed and how effective the top decision-making bodies of organisations really are. In this white paper, Dr Sabine Dembkowski of better Boards Ltd, sheds light on research findings and reveal the seven hallmarks of effective boards. The seven hallmarks are proven to create more effective boards and are…

September 30, 2019 Read more >

Issues which are of most concern to investors and how they are dealing with them MM&K is the UK member firm of the Global Governance and Executive Compensation Group (GECN), a consortium of independent advisory firms specialising in executive compensation and corporate governance and jointly serving clients in more than 30 countries. As investors are…

September 27, 2019 Read more >

In the summer, as part of its wider remit on governance, the Financial Reporting Council (“FRC”) launched the Female FTSE Board Report, created in conjunction with Cranfield University. The central theme was the advantages of diversity for everyone. As the Director-General of the CBI, Carolyn Fairbairn states in the Report: “The case for workplace equality…

September 24, 2019 Read more >

Updates to the GC100 Directors’ Reporting Guidance for 2019 The GC100 is an industry group for general counsels and company secretaries working in FTSE 100 companies. As part of their work, they produce the “GC100 Directors’ Remuneration Reporting Guidance”. The Guidance is a useful tool for anyone in a mid-sized or large listed company who…

August 28, 2019 Read more >

Government response to BEIS Select Committee The Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Committee of the House of Commons (the BEIS Select Committee) published on 26 March a further report on Executive Rewards.  It contained 16 recommendations to Government. The Government’s response to the report (HC2306) was published on 13 June The Select Committee comprises six…

July 29, 2019 Read more >

2019 Global Trends in Corporate Governance– progress update GECN is a group of independent firms, specialising in advising corporate clients on executive compensation and good governance. GECN member firms have offices in London, Geneva, Zurich, Kiev, Singapore, Melbourne, Sydney, Los Angeles and New York. MM&K has been the UK member firm since 2015 For a…

July 29, 2019 Read more >

Green Finance Strategy will increase companies’ disclosure requirements On 2 July 2019, the UK Government published its Green Finance Strategy: Transforming Finance for a Greener Future, which is intended to ensure that “our financial system is robust and agile enough to respond to the profound challenges that climate change and the transition to a clean…

July 25, 2019 Read more >

Loans from EBT – recent HMRC developments on disguised remuneration schemes Disguised remuneration schemes include tax avoidance arrangements that seek to avoid Income Tax and National Insurance contributions (NICs) by paying scheme users their income in the form of loans. Typically, the loans will have come from a “third party” such as an Employee Benefit…

July 20, 2019 Read more >