Tara Hogg puts the new UK Corporate Governance Code under the spotlight
On 1 December 2009, the Financial Reporting Council (the FRC) published for consultation a revised version of the Combined Code on Corporate Governance, one of the proposed revisions being to rename it the “UK Corporate Governance Code”. The consultation was launched at a time when a number of changes to the UK corporate governance environment were being considered (see NLJ, 15 January 2010, p 64).
On 28 May 2010, the FRC published the final version of the UK Corporate Governance Code (the Code). It will apply to accounting periods beginning on or after 29 June 2010, for all companies that have a premium listing of equity securities. The Code continues to operate on a “comply or explain” basis.
The final version of the Code differs from the consultation version. Among other things, there have been changes to the language of the provisions dealing with remuneration policy, the publication of a business model and the board’s responsibility in relation to risk. There have also been some more substantive changes.
Re-election of directors
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