FRC: A sharper UK Corporate Governance Code to achieve long-term success and trust in business

05 December 2017

The FRC publishes proposals for a revised UK Corporate Governance Code to reflect the changing business environment and help UK companies achieve the highest levels of governance. The Code is shorter and sharper and builds on the findings from the FRC’s Culture Report published in 2016.

The revised Code focuses on the importance of long-term success and sustainability, addresses issues of public trust in business and aims to ensure the attractiveness of the UK capital market to global investors through Brexit and beyond.

The revised Code sets out good practice so that the boards of companies can:

• Establish a company’s purpose, strategy and values and satisfy themselves that these and their culture are aligned;
• Undertake effective engagement with wider stakeholders, to improve trust and achieve mutual benefit, and to have regard to wider society;
• Gather views of the workforce;
• Ensure appointments to boards and succession plans are based on merit and objective criteria to avoid group think, and promote diversity of gender, social and ethnic backgrounds, cognitive and personal strengths;
• Be more specific about actions when they encounter significant shareholder opposition on any resolution, including those on executive pay policies and awards; and
• Give remuneration committees broader responsibility and discretion for overseeing how remuneration and workforce policies align with strategic objectives.

Responses to the consultation should be sent to codereview@frc.org.uk by 28 February 2018.

Full press release

PLSA comments on proposals to revise UK Corporate Governance Code

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