Faulty connection

A stinging conclusion over at Lloyd’s of London, after the insurance market said former chief executive John Neal breached compliance rules by failing to disclose a relationship with a female colleague.

According to reports, an internal investigation concluded it could find no “conclusive evidence” of romantic involvement, but the pair were close enough to prompt questions for Neal from other senior managers.

Neal’s conduct was described as “detrimental” to the market’s interest and, as the Financial Times reports, “fell significantly below the standards of judgement, transparency and accountability expected of a Lloyd’s chief executive”. Insure that.

Steel yourselves

Worries about governance arrangements at British Steel reached their lordships in Parliament this week.

To those of you who don’t know, the troubled British Steel is being taken back into public ownership from the hands of Chinese owners at Jingye Group.

In the House of Lords, Lib Dem Lord Fox asked about the vacant positions of chair and board members. “When will those appointments be made? Until that happens, who will be accountable for corporate governance.” Good question.

Business minister Lord Leong countered: “The government are putting a new board in place that has commercial and industrial experience, which is very important—we need people with expertise running this.” You can’t fault the logic.

Moving the US climate goalposts

For climate campaigners, there is good and bad news about big US companies. In the face of political dismissal of climate concerns, a study finds that setting climate goals is a “mainstream large-company practice in the S&P 500” but climate goals are at risk.

According to the Conference Board, a governance think tank, 84% of S&P 500 companies disclosed climate targets in 2025, against only 34% of the Russell 3000.

But 58% of S&P 500 companies with Scope 1 carbon emissions targets and 62% with Scope 3 targets report flat or rising emissions.

The Conference Board concludes: “Corporate climate targets are moving from aspiration to execution. Adoption is broad, disclosure is mature and scrutiny remains high.

“However, progress is also uneven, Scope 3 remains underdeveloped, and many targets now face growing pressure from capital constraints, energy demand, technology readiness, standards changes, and value-chain complexity.”

As burning issues go, that’s a big one.

Bucks the trend

Down under, Australian listed companies are getting an updated set of ASX Corporate Governance Principles and Recommendations.

Law firm Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer says the update will not make a great deal of difference but requires companies to pull “existing threads together”.

That said, recommendation 8.3 suggests companies remunerate non-executives “only” by fixed fees and “superannuation contributions” and disclose their approach to non-executive ownership of securities.

Meanwhile, 8.2 says companies should have the ability to adjust performance-based pay outcomes “downward when appropriate”. Aussies turning the screws on pay. A little.

Not lost in translation

In Japan, a new code has taken quite a different turn, making it a principle of governance to aim for growth.

The Japan Times reports that the code “urges” boards at listed companies “to constantly examine whether resources such as cash and deposits are allocated appropriately.”

The newspaper quotes finance services minister Satsuki Katayama saying the updated code is designed to “help companies work on improving their value in the medium to long term.”

Is this because Japanese boards might forget? We all know that feeling.