Of interest to all involved in the arrangement of meetings.

On 13 December, ISS published their UK and Ireland Proxy Voting Guidelines and Benchmark Policy Recommendations, which will be effective for meetings taking place on or after 1 February 2023.

As mentioned in previous Technical Briefings, on 24 May, the Financial Reporting Council published its long anticipated consultation on the UK Corporate Governance Code, the intention of which is to focus on the legislative and governance reforms that the Government proposed in its May 2022 white paper “Restoring trust in audit and corporate governance”. These are designed, amongst other things, to “support the FRC’s transition into the Audit, Reporting and Governance Authority (ARGA).”

In the past two years, businesses have dealt with a series of shocks. The pandemic hit at an est. cost of £134bn to UK businesses.

CGIUKI branches are places for members, students and non-members interested in governance to meet, learn and feel part of a governance community.

Improved ESG (Environmental, social and corporate governance) has been seen as a positive response to the crisis and as a means by which we can drive change in businesses for good.

An effective ESG strategy is strongly recommended to build long-term trust and credibility with stakeholders and secure a more successful and stable business.

In this article Lorence Nye, Head of Policy at the Quoted Companies Alliance, discusses the journeys and challenges of small and mid-caps in regards to ESG.

Recent research indicates that charity boards are reporting ESG matters but as discrete parts of good governance rather than considering them holistically.