Regulation

Non-financial disclosures, 21 January, 2020

Narrow sustainability reporting boundaries ‘can amount to greenwashing’

Researchers found 72% of FTSE 100 sustainability reports limited the activities reported on or used illustrative examples to suggest wider compliance.



Reporting, 20 January, 2020

Workforce disclosures ‘are not providing the data investors want’

Research from the Financial Reporting Council warns that despite greater engagement on workforce disclosures, companies are failing to report on the issues that matter to investors.



Strategy, 14 January, 2020

Hong Kong companies ‘failing to integrate ESG’ into policies and planning

Report warns that a majority of Hong Kong companies still regard ESG as an “ancillary” subject and not a “key concern in actual company business”.



UK Corporate Governance Code, 9 January, 2020

FRC governance report calls for ‘greater focus’ on culture and strategy

Watchdog warns that many firms are failing to fully consider the importance of purpose to culture and strategy, or take stakeholder views into account.



Corporate governance, 7 January, 2020

ISS governance rating downgrade ‘can hit share performance’

Research shows the downgrading of a firm’s ISS governance rating can result in a 1% slide in share performance—and the fall in value is not recovered.



Analysis, 2 January, 2020

Key trends in corporate governance for 2020

Five leading voices in corporate governance explain their priorities—and predictions—for the year ahead.



News review, 23 December, 2019

2019: The year in governance

This year saw the climate crisis accepted as a board-level issue, audit reviews, a UK election and a new focus on human rights and business purpose.



Audit reform, 19 December, 2019

Brydon review: ‘true and fair’ must go while fraud becomes auditor responsibility

Other proposals include audit committee chairs being grilled at AGMs and a new statement of purpose to cement auditors’ public interest role.



Financial reporting, 16 December, 2019

FRC is ‘working on a UK version of Sarbanes–Oxley’

One of the Kingman review’s key recommendations for reforming audit was a version of US Sarbox rules, a proposal supported by many audit committee chairs.



Sustainable finance, 10 December, 2019

European agreement on sustainable business taxonomy divides opinion

European institutions have agreed a taxonomy of sustainable economic activity, but critics warn it could impose “unjustified additional burdens” on firms.