The UK’s governance regulator has set out its mission as “promoting transparency and integrity in business”, as part of an update of its image.
The Financial Reporting Council (FRC) has relaunched its website, setting out to improve its design and navigation to make it more accessible for stakeholders. As part of the update, the FRC set out its new mission statement.
CEO Stephen Haddrill said: “Our refreshed mission is a concise articulation of what we strive for as an organisation and recognises how our work on corporate governance and reporting combines to meet the needs of users, preparers and the wider community within which business operates.”
The new website puts new reports and publications front and centre, and was designed following feedback from stakeholders.
“Integrity is core to the professions we regulate and oversee. In a post-Brexit society, trust in business and the profession can only be achieved if they conduct themselves with transparency and are guided by integrity,” Haddrill added.
The FRC is in the midst of a “fundamental review” of the UK Corporate Governance Code, which is in its 25th anniversary.
This week the regulator welcomed government plans to introduce the reporting of pay ratios, worker representation on boards and more detail required from all large, private companies about how they impact the environment in which they operate.
The FRC said that updating the code, alongside the government’s proposals, would “stand the UK economy in good stead well into the future”. Other business groups broadly welcomed the update, although the TUC described the government’s efforts as “feeble”.