This standard is applicable to audit committees of companies with a Premium listing on the London Stock Exchange and in the FTSE 350 index. Assuming primary legislation is passed to bring the Audit, Reporting and Governance Authority (ARGA) into being, the standard would become mandatory.
Although not all companies are required to apply this standard, any who aspire to join the FTSE 350 may wish to do so in order to minimise disruption in the event that they succeed in doing so. Even where a company has no plans to grow to that size, it may wish to apply the standard anyway—the provisions are examples of good governance.
