The FRC’s annual review of reporting, following 2018 changes to the UK Corporate Governance Code shows the quality of reporting has been mixed. In this article we analyse key elements of the FRC review The 2018 UK Corporate Governance Code that applies to accounting periods beginning on or after 1 January 2019, is designed to…

January 28, 2020 Read more >

What insights into effective business practices are coming out of the QCA review of Good Governance on AIM? MM&K are members of the Quoted Companies Alliance (“QCA”) and sit on both the Corporate Governance and Share Schemes experts group.  Here are four insights coming out of the recently published AIM Good Governance Review. 1) There…

January 23, 2020 Read more >

With the majority of parties now having published their manifestos, what clues do they contain as to the future direction of corporate governance and executive pay in the UK? This article is strictly apolitical – as countless polls have shown, it is impossible to predict how an election will be decided. However, irrespective of who…

November 25, 2019 Read more >

Revised and Strengthened UK Stewardship Code sets new world-leading benchmark Nigel Mills summarises some of the changes in the new Code and the impact it will have. One key change is that signatories now have to explain their Stewardship approach in their alternative investments such as PE and Infrastructure. The Financial Reporting Council (the FRC) launched…

November 25, 2019 Read more >

No matter whether you are a listed company or a private company, the most recent remuneration guidelines from the Investment Association are likely to affect your business in the future To paraphrase an old saying, “when the FTSE sneezes, the rest of the market catches a cold”.  Whilst the recent publication of the Investment Association’s…

November 20, 2019 Read more >

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 >