UK corporate governance timeline

Date  Category Development
February 2020 Diversity Parker Review Committee published an update report – Ethnic diversity enriching business leadership
January 2020 Narrative reporting The FRC Financial Reporting Lab published its report, Workforce-related corporate reporting: Where to next?
January 2020 Corporate governance The FRC published a report assessing reporting against the 2016 UK Corporate Governance Code and commenting on early adopters of 2018 UK Corporate Governance Code
December 2019 Audit Publication of final report into the quality and effectiveness of audit by Sir Donald Brydon
November 2019 Diversity The Hampton Alexander Review published its fourth and penultimate report, assessing progress against its five key recommendations set in 2016.
November 2019 Other The BEIS Committee published a letter to the Secretary of State with a series of recommendations on corporate governance, executive pay and bonuses and audit reform following its recent public evidence sessions examining the corporate collapse of Thomas Cook
November 2019 Executive pay The Investment Association published its Principles of Remuneration 2020 alongside an open letter to remuneration committee chairs.
October 2019 Lab reports The FRC Financial Reporting Lab published a report on the development of climate-related corporate reporting.
October 2019 Lab reports The FRC Financial Reporting Lab published its report, Climate-related corporate reporting: Questions for companies.
October 2019 Corporate governance The FRC published its annual review of corporate governance and reporting for 2018/2019. Alongside the review, the FRC published an open letter to audit committee chairs and finance directors reflecting the findings of the review and highlighting areas for improvement.
October 2019 Stewardship The FRC published an updated version of the UK Stewardship Code to apply from January 1, 2020.
October 2019 Corporate Governance Institutional Shareholder Services published its 2020 benchmark policy consultation, seeking views on its proposed new and amended voting policies for 2020.
September 2019 Audit The FRC issued a revised draft of International Standard on Auditing (ISA) (UK) 570 Going Concern.
September 2019 Diversity The Government Equalities Office announced the first meeting of the Men As Change Agents “Lead the Change” Board.
September 2019 Executive remuneration The Investment Association published new guidelines ahead of the 2020 AGM season with regard to pension contributions for executive directors.
September 2019 Narrative reporting The Financial Reporting Council’s Financial Reporting Lab published a report on disclosures by companies on the sources and uses of cash.
September 2019 Audit QCA published an updated version of its Audit Committee Guide.
September 2019 Other The QCA and Henley Business School published a research report “The Role of Non-executive Directors in Growth Companies”.
September 2019 Corporate governance The FCA published its quarterly consultation paper 25 (CP19/27) proposing various amendments to the FCA Handbook.
July 2019 Remuneration GC100 and Investor Group published an updated version of its Directors' Remuneration Reporting Guidance.
July 2019 Audit BEIS published a consultation on recommendations made by the CMA in its final report on its market study into statutory audit services in April 2019.
July 2019 Audit CIIA launched a consultation on a draft of its new Internal Audit Code of Practice.
July 2019 Audit FRC published a consultation on proposed changes to the UK’s Ethical and Auditing Standards.
July 2019 Risk management Risk Coalition published a consultation on its draft principles and guidance for board risk committees and risk functions in the UK financial services sector.
July 2019 Diversity  FRC announced that it is supporting new research report produced by Cranfield University called the “Female FTSE Board Report”.
July 2019 Human rights developments Government published its response to the final report of the independent review of the Modern Slavery Act 2015.
July 2019 Diversity Hampton-Alexander Review published an update in relation to the number of female directors appointed to FTSE 350 company boards
June 2019 Narrative reporting European Commission published new (non-binding) guidelines on corporate climate-related information reporting alongside an accompanying Q&A document, as part of its Sustainable Finance Action Plan
June 2019 Audit BEIS Committee published the Government's response to the BEIS report on the future of audit.
June 2019 Narrative reporting  The Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures established by the Financial Stability Board published its 2019 Status Report.
June 2019 Remuneration BEIS Committee published the Government's response to the BEIS report ‘Executive rewards: paying for success’.
June 2019 Remuneration BEIS published a question and answer document (Q&A) in relation to the Companies (Directors' Remuneration Policy and Directors' Remuneration Report) Regulations 2019.
May 2019 Remuneration Companies (Directors’ Remuneration Policy and Directors’ Remuneration Report) Regulations 2019 published together with explanatory memorandum.
May 2019 Other ICSA published a review and consultation which assesses the quality of independent board evaluation in the UK listed sector and identifies ways in which it might be improved.
May 2019 Narrative reporting ISS published its 2019 ESG review of the state of adherence by companies to ESG criteria.
May 2019 Other IA published a report on the prevalence of listed UK companies paying ordinary dividends without seeking shareholder approval. 
May 2019 Human rights developments Final report of the independent review of the Modern Slavery Act 2015 was laid in Parliament.
April 2019 Audit BEIS published a report on the future of audit, following an enquiry that it launched in November 2018.
April 2019 Remuneration BEIS published the draft Companies (Directors’ Remuneration Policy and Directors’ Remuneration Report) Regulations 2019 together with a draft explanatory memorandum and transposition note.
April 2019 Audit The CMA published its final report following its market study of the statutory audit services market.
April 2019 Audit BEIS published a consultation paper, a “Call for Views”, as part of the review by Sir Donald Brydon into the quality and effectiveness of audits in the UK.
April 2019 Narrative reporting  The UK's Streamlined Energy and Carbon Reporting (SECR) framework was introduced. 
March 2019 Remuneration BEIS published a report ('Executive rewards: paying for success') which provides an update on trends on executive pay and examines the Government’s performance in addressing the pay gap between chief executives and company performance and employee pay.
March 2019 Diversity The Investment Association and the Hampton-Alexander Review announced that they have written to 69 of the FTSE 350 companies, highlighting concerns relating to gender diversity on their board.
March 2019 Audit The FRC published a position paper setting out how Ethical and Auditing Standards will be developed to respond better to the needs of users of audited financial information
March 2019 Corporate governance PIRC published the 26th edition of its UK Shareowner Voting Guidelines.
March 2019 Narrative reporting The FRC launched a consultation on revisions to International Standard on Auditing (ISA) (UK) 570 - Going Concern.
March 2019 Narrative reporting The European Commission launched a consultation seeking feedback on draft guidelines on the standardised presentation of the remuneration report under the Shareholder Rights’ Directive.
March 2019 Narrative reporting BEIS published an updated version of its guidance on environmental reporting. 
February 2019 Narrative reporting  The European Commission published a consultation paper which supplements its June 2017 non-binding guidelines on non-financial reporting, specifically with regard to the reporting of climate-related information.
January 2019 Stewardship The FRC published a consultation paper proposing changes to the UK Stewardship Code, together with a draft revised UK Stewardship Code in an Appendix to the consultation paper.
January 2019 Corporate governance The Pensions and Lifetime Savings Association published an updated version of its Corporate Governance Policy and Voting Guidelines 2019.
January 2019 Stewardship The FCA and the FRC published a joint discussion paper seeking views on how stewardship can be improved within the existing structure of UK capital markets
January 2019 Audit IOSCO published a report on the role of audit committees of listed companies in supporting and promoting external audit quality.
January 2019 Narrative reporting EFRA and BEIS published revised Environmental Reporting Guidelines
January 2019 Lab reports The FRC Financial Reporting Lab published a report, "Artificial intelligence and corporate reporting: How does it measure up?", which considers artificial intelligence and its role in the future of corporate reporting.
January 2019 Remuneration BEIS Committee published the Government’s response to the report on gender pay gap reporting published by the BEIS Committee in August 2018
January 2019 Corporate governance The House of Commons Library published Briefing Paper No. 8143 -  ‘Corporate Governance Reform’
January 2019 Narrative reporting The Companies (Miscellaneous Reporting) Regulations 2018 came into effect for financial years beginning on or after January 1, 2019.
January 2019 Corporate governance UK Corporate Governance Code 2018 applies to financial years beginning on or after January 1, 2019.
December 2018 Audit The FRC published its “Audit quality thematic review – Other information in the annual report”.
December 2018 Audit The CMA published an update paper following the launch of its market study into the statutory audit market in October 2018
December 2018 Corporate governance The FRC published the final version of the Wates Corporate Governance Principles for Large Private Companies 2019.
December 2018 Narrative reporting The GC100 and Investor Group published an updated version of its directors’ remuneration reporting guidance.  
December 2018 Corporate governance BEIS published the final report of the independent review of the FRC led by Sir John Kingman.
December 2018 Corporate governance The FRC published the final version of the Wates Corporate Governance Principles for Large Private Companies 2019.
November 2018 Corporate governance The FRC published a list of Frequently Asked Questions on the 2018 UK Corporate Governance Code.
November 2018 Corporate governance The QCA and Hacker Young published the Corporate Governance Behaviour Review 2018/19.
November 2018 Diversity The Hampton-Alexander Review published its third report assessing progress against the five key recommendations that it set in 2016, highlighting emerging best practice and current challenges.
November 2018 Corporate governance Institutional Shareholder Services published updates to its UK Proxy Voting Guidelines (ISS Guidelines) for 2019.
November 2018 Corporate governance Glass Lewis published its updated 2019 Proxy Paper Guidelines
November 2018 Remuneration The Investment Association published its updated Principles of Remuneration.
November 2018 Narrative reporting IOSCO published a statement setting out the importance for issuers of considering the inclusion of ESG matters when disclosing information material to investors’ decisions.
November 2018 Narrative reporting The FRC published a report summarising the key findings of a thematic review it has conducted in relation to IFRS 9 “Financial Instruments” which became effective on January 1, 2018.
November 2018 Narrative reporting The FRC published a thematic review of interim disclosures about the implementation of IFRS 15 “Revenue from Contracts with Customers” which became effective on January 1, 2018.
October 2018 Narrative reporting FRC’s Lab published a report which considers how reporting practice in relation to business model reporting and risk and viability reporting has changed since publication of 2016 and 2017 reports on those topics.
October 2018 Audit FRC published “Developments in Audit” 2018 which sets out work FRC has done in relation to audits in the past year.
October 2018 Corporate governance ISS launched consultation in relation to auditor ratification and lead partner engagement where lead partner (as firm) has been involved in significant auditing controversies.
October 2018 Corporate governance Investment Association published guidance for Companies required to issue update statements within six months of AGM/GM at which 20% or more votes were cast against a board recommended resolution (as required by 2018 UK Corporate Governance Code).
October 2018 Audit CMA launched market study into statutory audit market in the UK

October 2018

 Narrative reporting BEIS launched a consultation on ethnicity pay reporting.

October 2018

 Narrative reporting BEIS published a notice explaining the implications for accounting, corporate reporting and audit if the UK leaves the EU in March 2019 with no Brexit agreement in place
September 2018 Corporate governance AIM Companies required to disclose details of corporate governance code they apply as part of AIM Rule 26 disclosure requirements from September 28, 2018.
September 2018 Diversity FRC published a report assessing the current extent and manner of reporting by FTSE 350 companies on diversity at senior and management levels in annual reports.
September 2018 Narrative reporting FRC’s Financial Reporting Lab issued call for participants in new climate and workforce reporting project.
August 2018 Narrative reporting House of Commons BEIS Committee published a report on gender pay gal reporting.
August 2018 Corporate governance BEIS published Government’s response to its “Corporate Governance and Insolvency” consultation.
July 2018 Narrative reporting FRC published revised Guidance on the Strategic Report.
July 2018 Narrative reporting The Companies (Miscellaneous Reporting) Regulations 2018 were made on July 17, 2018.
July 2018 Narrative reporting The FRC published revised guidance on the strategic report which encourages companies to consider wider stakeholders and broader matters that impact performance over the longer term.
July 2018 Corporate governance FRC published revised Guidance on Board Effectiveness.
July 2018 Corporate governance FRC published a revised UK Corporate Governance Code for 2018. The revised code applies to accounting periods beginning on or after January 1, 2019.
June 2018 Diversity BEIS and the Government Equalities Office published a press release in relation to progress made to date by FTSE 350 companies in meeting the Hampton-Alexander Review target of having at least 33 per cent of board positions held by women by the end of 2020.
June 2018 Corporate governance The FRC issued a draft of the Wates Corporate Governance Principles for Large Private Companies (the Principles), and supplementary guidance, for public consultation.
June 2018 Corporate governance FRC published call for evidence in relation to Sir John Kingham’s review of the FRC
June 2018 Narrative reporting The Companies (Miscellaneous Reporting) Regulations 2018 published in draft with BEIS Q&A on those regulations.
June 2018 Lab reports FRC’s Lab published a report on reporting of performance metrics and report on future of blockchain and corporate reporting.
April 2018 Audit committee IOSCO published consultation report on good practices for audit committees in reporting and audit quality.
April 2018 Diversity The Investment Association announced that it and the Hampton-Alexander Review had written to 35 FTSE 350 companies with low female representation at leadership level, calling for change.
April 2018 Corporate governance

QCA published a revised QCA Corporate Governance Code which replaces the previous version published in May 2013.
April 2018 Corporate governance Sir John Kingham appointed to carry out a review of the FRC’s governance, transparency and independence.

March 2018

 Corporate governance Government to lay draft secondary legislation connected with its corporate governance reform before Parliament.
March 2018 Corporate governance Pensions and Investment Research Consultants Ltd (PIRC) published the 25th edition of its UK Shareowner Voting Guidelines.
March 2018 Remuneration The House of Commons Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy Committee (BEIS Committee) announced the launch of an inquiry into executive pay and the gender pay gap in the private sector.
March 2018 Corporate governance BEIS published  a consultation “Corporate Governance and Insolvency” to improve the UK’s corporate governance framework and ensure the highest standards of behaviour in those who lead and control companies in, or approaching, insolvency.
March 2018 Corporate governance London Stock Exchange plc (LSE) published AIM Notice 50 which provides feedback on the consultation the LSE issued in December 2017 pursuant to AIM Notice 49 and confirms the resulting rule changes to the AIM Rules for Companies (AIM Rules). These included that AIM companies should comply or explain against a recognised corporate governance code.
March 2018 Corporate governance The FRC announced the expectations of the Pre-Emption Group in relation to pre-emption disapplication thresholds.
February 2018 Corporate governance BEIS published the Government’s response to the Taylor Review of Modern Working Practices (the Taylor Review) which was published in July 2017.
February 2018 Diversity BEIS announced plans to review how employers are improving ethnic minority progression in the workplace. The review is part of BEIS’s ambition to create better, higher-paying jobs in every part of the UK and ensure that people from all backgrounds can be successful in the workplace.
February 2018 Corporate governance In February 2018 Institutional Shareholder Services Inc (ISS), a US proxy adviser, announced the launch of its Environmental & Social QualityScore which will measure the quality of corporate disclosures on environmental and social issues, including sustainability governance, and identify key disclosure omissions.
January 2018 Corporate governance In January 2018 Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) announced updates to its 2018 benchmark Proxy Voting Guidelines (Guidelines) for various regions, including the UK, Ireland and Europe.
January 2018 Corporate governance FRC and BEIS announced that James Wates CBE, Chairman of the Wates Group, will chair the Coalition Group to develop new corporate governance principles for large privately-owned companies. The Coalition Group was established in light of the Government’s response to its Green Paper consultation on corporate governance reform published in August 2017.
January 2018 Corporate governance The Pensions and Lifetime Savings Association (PLSA) published their latest Corporate Governance Policy and Voting Guidelines (Guidelines) to assist PLSA members in promoting the long-term success of the companies in which they invest and ensuring that the board and management of those companies are held accountable to shareholders.
December 2017 Narrative reporting The Financial Reporting Lab (the Lab) invited investors, analysts and companies of all sizes to participate in a project on effective reporting on performance.
December 2017 Narrative reporting The FRC published a set of Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) on the application of the Non-Financial Reporting Regulations. The FRC encourages companies to read these in conjunction with the 2014 Guidance on the Strategic Report.
December 2017 Narrative reporting The introduction of the European Single Electronic Format (ESEF), which is expected to be finalised in early 2018 and come into force in 2020, will, according to the Financial Reporting Lab (the Lab), drive a step change in the use of XBRL (eXtensible Business Reporting Language) for the production and consumption of the annual reports of European listed companies.
December 2017 Auditing The FRC published its latest audit quality thematic review on the concept of audit materiality and how the major firms determine materiality in practice. The report follows on from the FRC’s 2013 report on materiality.

December 2017

 Corporate reporting The FRC published its revised guidance, in the form of a Bulletin, for auditors when agreeing to the publication of preliminary announcements. The aim of the Bulletin is to provide investors with greater transparency about the status of the information included within preliminary announcements.

December 2017

 Corporate governance The Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators (ICSA) Governance Institute and Board Intelligence published a summary of their research into how board reporting (the preparation of reports and other papers discussed at board meetings) operates in organisations. They surveyed 80 governance professionals representing organisations of all sizes and sectors with the aim of identifying the main challenges to effective board reporting so that organisations can be helped to address these challenges.

December 2017

 Corporate governance The Quoted Companies Alliance (QCA) and UHY Hacker Young published their annual review of corporate governance behaviour, which focuses on the disclosures made by 100 small and mid-size quoted companies taken from the Main List, AIM and ISDX and compares these disclosures against the minimum disclosures set out in the QCA Corporate Governance Code for Small and Mid-Size Quoted Companies (the QCA Code).

December 2017

 Corporate governance Glass Lewis published their updated Proxy Paper Guidelines (Guidelines) for 2018.

December 2017

 Corporate governance FRC published proposals for a revised UK Corporate Governance Code (Code) and updated Guidance on Board Effectiveness for consultation, as well as raising questions about revised UK Stewardship Code.

December 2017

 Corporate governance Investment Association’s Public Register of shareholder voting launched.

November 2017

 Narrative reporting The Financial Reporting Lab (the Lab) published a report on ‘Risk and viability reporting’. The project on risk and viability began in May 2017 and the Lab report examines the views of those companies and investors that participated in the project on the key attributes of principal risk and viability reporting, their value and use.

Autumn 2017

 Corporate governance Investment Association’s Public Register of shareholder voting to be launched.

November 2017

 Narrative reporting The FRC announced a series of thematic reviews to be conducted in 2018/19 concerning certain aspects of corporate reporting and auditing where there is particular shareholder interest and room for improvement, as well as scope for learning from good practice.

November 2017

 Corporate governance House of Commons Library research service published a briefing paper for Members of Parliament and their staff on the corporate governance reform programme. The briefing paper looks at the current corporate governance framework and at the current reform programme, including the Government’s August 2017 response to its 2016 Green Paper on corporate governance reform and the BEIS report published in April 2017.

November 2017

 Corporate governance FRC to launch review of UK Corporate Governance Code.

November 2017

 Corporate governance Hampton-Alexander Review publishes “one year on” report in relation to improving gender balance in FTSE 350 leadership teams.

November 2017

 Remuneration The Investment Association writes to chairs of remuneration committees outlining key changes to their updated Principles of Remuneration and highlighting items of focus for their members in the 2018 AGM season.

October 2017

 Corporate governance The Investment Association announces that it is writing to FTSE companies that are due to appear on the Public Register of shareholder votes. The letter is being sent to companies in the FTSE All-Share who received votes of 20 per cent against any resolution or withdrew a resolution in 2017.

October 2017

 Auditors The FRC published its Feedback Statement following its consultation via a Discussion Paper published in April 2017 on the role of the auditor in preliminary announcements. The FRC notes that the majority of respondents believe the current regime for preliminary announcements is adequate and does not require significant change.

October 2017

 Corporate reporting The FRC publishes its annual assessment of corporate reporting in the UK, based primarily on the FRC’s own monitoring work in the year to March 31, 2017 and more recently performed thematic reviews. The FRC notes that while the standard of corporate reporting, particularly by the largest listed companies, remains generally good, there is still more work to be done in improving the quality of reporting.

October 2017

 Non-financial reporting BEIS publishes a consultation paper seeking views on the UK Government’s proposals for a streamlined and more effective energy and carbon reporting framework. The consultation builds on responses to a consultation in 2015, “Reforming the business energy efficiency tax landscape” which showed support for mandatory reporting of energy use and carbon data by certain large organisations. The proposals put forward in Chapter 3 for reforms from 2019 could be built upon or replaced to create a still better regime, and the UK government would welcome views and evidence on whether such enhancements would be a good idea. The Government asks for responses by January 4, 2018 and encourages respondents to use the online e-Consultation platform.

October 2017

 Diversity The Parker Review Committee, led by Sir John Parker, publishes its final report into the ethnic diversity of UK boards. The Report notes that UK citizen directors of colour represent only about two per cent of the total director population and 51 out of the FTSE 100 companies do not have any directors of colour. The Parker Review Committee believes that it is important that FTSE 100 and FTSE 250 companies change the way they approach the issue of ethnic diversity in the boardroom and the pipeline and as well as highlighting clear business reasons for increasing ethnic diversity on UK boards.  Each FTSE 100 board should have at least one director of colour by 2021 and each FTSE 250 board should have at least one director of colour by 2024.

October 2017

 Corporate reporting BEIS updates its webpage which provides guidance on the reporting requirements for business payment practices and performance. This now states that businesses can publish their reports online.

October 2017

 Proxy advisors The Best Practice Principles Group launches a consultation that seeks views from investors and companies on whether the Best Practice Principles for Shareholder Voting Research and Analysis have been effective in ensuring the integrity and efficiency of the services provided by shareholder voting analysts and advisors.  A decision has not yet been taken on whether there will be a second consultation on draft revised Principles and reporting arrangements. If it is decided that a second consultation is not necessary, then the aim will be to publish a report which sets out the findings and conclusions of the review, together with the revised Principles and details of the reporting and monitoring arrangements in April 2018. If there is a second consultation, it will begin in April 2018 and the revised Principles and other documents will be published in July or August 2018.

October 2017

 Corporate reporting The FRC publishes its annual assessment of corporate reporting in the UK, based primarily on the FRC’s own monitoring work in the year to March 31, 2017 and more recently performed thematic reviews. The report aims to help preparers and auditors aid companies in improving the quality of their reporting. The FRC notes that while the standard of corporate reporting, particularly by the largest listed companies, remains generally good, there is still more work to be done in improving the quality of reporting.

October 2017

 Narrative reporting FRC writes to companies withadvice for preparing 2017/18 annual reports. The letter highlights changes to UK reporting requirements and sets out key areas where the FRC believes improvements can be made when companies prepare their annual reports for the 2017/18 reporting season.

October 2017

 Human rights developments The Home Office publishes updated statutory guidance for organisations on how to ensure that slavery and human trafficking is not taking place in their business or supply chain.

October 2017

 Lab reports The Financial Reporting Lab of the Financial Reporting Council publishes a report examining how companies have responded, in the second year of reporting, to suggestions for enhanced disclosure which were made in the Lab’s Disclosure of dividends – policy and practice report published in November 2015.

September 2017

 Corporate governance ICSA and the Investment Association issues joint guidance on stakeholder engagement which is aimed at helping company boards think about how to ensure they understand and weigh up interests of their key stakeholders when taking strategic decisions.

September 2017

 Corporate governance BEIS Committee publishes the Government's response to the BEIS Committee’s report on corporate governance which was published in April 2017. The Government agrees with the BEIS Committee that all companies of significant size (private as well as public) should explain how their directors have had regard to their employee and other non-shareholder interests set out in section 172 CA 2006, and intends to make this form of reporting a legal requirement by introducing secondary legislation. The Government will publish a draft statutory instrument setting out details later in the year.

August 2017

 Corporate governance BEIS publishes the Government’s response to its Green Paper on corporate governance reform.  The response document identifies nine proposals for reform which the Government intends to take forward.  It also includes a summary of the responses to the Green Paper.  The Government notes that the FRC intends to consult on amendments to the UK Corporate Governance Code in the late Autumn of 2017.  The Government intends to lay before Parliament draft secondary legislation, where required, before March 2018. The intention is to bring the reforms into effect by June 2018 to apply to company reporting years commencing on or after that date.

August 2017

 Narrative reporting The FRC publishes a consultation on draft amendments to its Guidance on the Strategic Report. The proposed amendments reflect changes to the strategic report requirements made by the Companies, Partnerships and Groups (Accounts and Non-Financial Reporting) Regulations 2016, which apply to companies and qualifying partnerships beginning on or after January 1, 2017.
June 2017 Non-financial reporting The FRC publishes a factsheet with an overview of the new regulations implementing the EU Directive on the disclosure of non-financial and diversity information.
June 2017 Non-financial reporting The European Commission publishes non-binding guidelines on the methodology for reporting non-financial information. The guidelines have been prepared in accordance with Article 2 of the EU Non-Financial Reporting Directive (Directive 2014/95/EU) which requires the disclosure of non-financial and diversity information by certain large undertakings and groups. The guidelines are designed to help companies disclose non-financial information in a relevant, useful, consistent and more comparable manner.
May 2017 Corporate reporting The Investment Association publishes new guidance on various aspects of long term reporting including the reporting of the long term drivers of value creation and productive enterprise. This guidance applies to companies whose shares are admitted to the Premium Segment of the Official List of the UK Listing Authority.

May 2017

 Lab reports The Financial Reporting Lab publishes a report which sets out a framework for future digital reporting. Written by a wide range of preparers, investors and others, the report expresses what they would like to see in any future (digitally enabled) system of corporate reporting.
April 2017 Corporate reporting The FRC publishes a discussion paper to stimulate discussion on the use and value of preliminary announcements and the role of the auditor in respect of such announcements. The discussion paper summarises the key legislative and regulatory requirements relating to preliminary announcements, as set out in the Listing Rules and Companies Act 2006. It then analyses current practice among listed and AIM companies and evaluates the current guidance and options for change.

April 2017

 Corporate reporting ICAEW publishes Technical Release TECH 02/17, which updates its guidance on realised and distributable profits. It is based on TECH 02/10 but has been updated as proposed in TECH 05/16, published in March 2016. The ICAEW has also publishes a mark-up of changes to the guidance to show the changes made to both TECH 02/10 and TECH 05/16.

April 2017

 Corporate governance BEIS Committee publishes a report on its inquiry into corporate governance. The inquiry examines whether the UK corporate governance framework is still fit for purpose, whether it provides the right structures to assist businesses in making high quality decisions for the long term, taking fully into account the wider interests of society, and how good behaviour can be embedded in business through cultural change and persuasion.

March 2017

 Human rights developments The Corporate Human Rights Benchmark for 2017 is published. The Benchmark assesses 98 of the largest publicly traded companies in the world on the implementation of the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights and other internationally recognised human rights and industry standards. The companies assessed are all from high-risk industries – agricultural products, apparel and extractives.

February 2017

 Diversity BEIS publishes an independent review by Baroness McGregor-Smith considering the issues affecting black and minority ethnic groups in the workplace. The review sets out a number of changes that can be made by employers in the public, private sector and voluntary and community organisations to improve diversity within their organisations, including: measuring success, changing the culture, improving processes, supporting progression and inclusive workplaces.