Growth prospecting

Just in case you missed it, there were widespread reports that prime minister Sir Keir Starmer has written to regulators asking for reform ideas that would support growth.

Among the watchdogs invited to submit their thoughts is the Financial Reporting Council (FRC), the UK’s chief supervisor of financial reporting and corporate governance.

It’s not clear what the regulator will say, but there is no doubt growth is taken seriously by those running the FRC.

In his letter accompanying the FRC’s three-year strategy, published in December, FRC chair Sir Jan du Plessis wrote: “All our activities can and should make a positive contribution towards our longstanding growth duty and we will continue to embed this into our regulatory decision-making processes and engagement.”

Chief executive Richard Moriarty has already acted on the reporting complaint by killing off a number of proposals for the new corporate governance code last year.

But the PM seems to be looking for more. Which is a little tough, because it looks as if the UK is on track to adopt new sustainability reporting standards.

It’s going to be a tough year for the FRC.

Climate call to corporates

There are signs that governments are becoming jittery about their commitments to climate policy.

It’s thought the incoming US president Donald Trump will kill off climate risk reporting in the US, while there is speculation the European Union will water down the CSRD reporting measures in the coming year. Carbon reduction targets are also being questioned.

Schneider Electric’s executive vice-president of European operations, Gwenaelle Avice Huet, says this creates an opportunity for corporates to fill the void.

On the Financial Times letters page, she writes: “Business leadership is essential for advancing the climate agenda,” and adds: “It’s crucial for businesses to continue pushing for decarbonisation, especially as governments shift their focus.

“With 2025 marking the midpoint of this critical decade for decarbonisation and many targets aimed at 2030, now is not the time to backtrack on commitments but to accelerate efforts towards achieving net zero.”

The coming year could be decisive.

Diversity on US boards

The world’s biggest fund manager, BlackRock, has published its US investment stewardship priorities for 2025, with some commentators claiming it had softened its approach to diversity in boardrooms.

That said, BlackRock still declares: “We are interested in a variety of experiences, perspectives and skillsets in the boardroom. We see it as a means of promoting diversity of thought to avoid ‘group think’… .”

It continues to warn it may vote against nominations and governance committee members if an S&P is an “outlier and does not have a mix of professional characteristics that is comparable to market norms”.

And BlackRock still wants disclosures on how “professional and personal characteristics are considered in board composition”.

The investment manager may not be demanding targets, but it certainly isn’t letting US boards off the hook when it comes to diversity.