Business quarters all have their own cycle.  But for those with December year ends in particular, this relatively quiet period (from a management perspective) at the end of February often comes as a bit of a surprise. So, rather than wasting the opportunity that this temporary lull can bring, here are three recommendations for some…

February 24, 2023 Read more >

In November 2022, the Financial Reporting Council (“FRC”) published its annual review of Corporate Governance Code (“the Code”) disclosures.  As previously, it selected a range of 100 companies across the FTSE 350 and Small Cap markets. Whilst much of the findings will only be interesting to fully listed businesses, there are still some important points…

January 26, 2023 Read more >

Listed companies are required to put their directors’ remuneration policy to a shareholder resolution at least every three years. If a company wishes to make any changes to its remuneration policy, it must put the new policy to shareholders for approval at an annual general meeting (AGM). Several listed companies are likely to be seeking…

January 26, 2023 Read more >

MM&K (the UK partner firm in the GECN group) has published its 2023 research on how the world’s largest firms use ESG (environmental, social, governance) metrics in their executive incentive plans. Download your free copy here. We researched the world’s top firms for how they use ESG metrics when paying their CEOs. A category among…

January 26, 2023 Read more >

On 22 December 2022, HMRC published its tax avoidance bulletin Spotlight 61 – ‘Disguised remuneration: remuneration trusts used to reduce profits and disguise income’ which follows the warning given by HMRC in Spotlight 51 and Spotlight 56 about remuneration trust tax avoidance schemes and explained why these do not work. HMRC have noticed that certain…

January 26, 2023 Read more >

Looking back on a year of turmoil 2022 was supposed to be the year in which we started to get back to normal, or to embrace the “new” normal. In January, COVID was a declining force, inflation was 5.5%, investors anticipated a brighter outlook for the UK economy and the FTSE100 index closed above 7,500…

December 21, 2022 Read more >

Corporate governance can seem like a daunting task for any organization to undertake. Some organizations do it because they fall within specific codes, others consider doing it, but the thought and the process overwhelms them to a point of choosing to do the bare minimum, or nothing at all. It is important for companies to…

November 22, 2022 Read more >

MM&K (the UK partner firm in the GECN group) is soon to publish its 2022/23 research on how the world’s largest firms use ESG (environmental, social, governance) metrics in their executive incentive plans. Download your free copy. Environmental metrics appear to have truly flourished across the world this year. All regions reported an increase, Europe…

November 22, 2022 Read more >

The FRC (soon to become ARGA) is about to review the provisions of the UK Corporate Governance Code, which is applicable to companies having a premium listing on the London Stock Exchange. An informal consultation process, which will include organisations like the QCA, is scheduled to commence at the end of this month. This will…

October 12, 2022 Read more >

ESG is a growing characteristic of executive remuneration plans, with 58% of FTSE 100 companies including these metrics in their reward packages – up from 45% in 2020. According to a 2021 PwC Survey amongst Corporate Directors, 94% support the inclusion of non-financial targets in executive compensation plans. But aside from this, why should companies…

September 15, 2022 Read more >

According to the press, Goldman Sachs economists are predicting a recession later this year and that UK inflation will rise to more than 22% next year. The pound is weak against both the US dollar and the euro. Questions are being asked about how can businesses, communities and individuals survive this latest economic crisis. Inflation…

September 15, 2022 Read more >

We don’t live in a perfect world nor a perfect meritocracy, but – generally – aren’t people who miss a promotion simply not up to scratch? Thanks to ruthless market forces, a company has a strong incentive to select only the best (barring any nepotism) since empowering low-performers should promptly acquaint a company with its…

September 13, 2022 Read more >