The 2020 AGM season is upon us at a time of the fast escalating coronavirus pandemic. This briefing looks at the implications of coronavirus on AGMs.
Public companies must hold an AGM within six months of their financial year end. By their very nature, AGMs entail people travelling to gather in one place. This raises
Climate change is clearly something which is at the forefront of the minds of communities and governments. Increasingly, climate change and its impacts are being considered by companies and investors alike, as they become more aware of the potential impact – both directly and indirectly – that climate change may have on the value of
In looking at shareholder priorities for the year ahead, the Investment Association (IA) has recently published a report which sets out the areas it believes investors will place greater importance on in terms of corporate delivery. These areas are:
Taking a look at
Section 78 of the Equality Act 2010 (as amended by the Equality Act 2010 (Gender Pay Gap Information) Regulations 2017, which came into force on 6 April 2017) (“EA 2010”), currently governs how large private and voluntary sector employers (defined as those with 250 or more employees as at 5 April each year) report
On 4 November 2019, in the looming shadow of the collapse of Thomas Cook Group plc (“Thomas Cook”), the Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (“BEIS”) Committee published a letter of recommendations to the Secretary of State for the Department of BEIS, Andrea Leadsom.
The letter follows BEIS’ inquiry into the collapse of Thomas Cook and
The Investment Association (“IA”) has recently published a new statement relating to executive directors’ pension contributions. The guidance is the next step from the IA’s statement in February 2019 and Good Stewardship Guide 2019, which call for executive directors’ paid pension contributions to be in line with the majority of the workforce.
Audit committees are key to public confidence in a company’s financial reporting. The responsibilities of audit committees and importance of their composition and involvement was reinforced in 2014 by the Audit Regulation and Amending Directive.
On 12 September 2019, the Quoted Companies Alliance (QCA) published its new and updated Audit Committee Guide, which replaces the
The Investment Association (“IA”) has published an interesting report following its investigation into dividend payment practices of UK listed companies. The research was carried out in response to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy’s concern that an increasing number of companies are paying ordinary dividends without seeking shareholder approval, which undermines transparency and
The Companies (Directors’ Remuneration Policy and Directors’ Remuneration Report) Regulations 2019 were published on 29 May 2019. The regulations amend the Companies Act 2006 and the Large and Medium-sized Companies and Groups (Accounts and Reports) Regulations 2008 by implementing Articles 9a (Right to vote on the remuneration policy) and 9b (Information to be provided in and
The Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators (ICSA) and the Investment Association (IA) have published guidance entitled “The Stakeholder Voice in Board Decision Making; Strengthening the business, promoting long-term success”. This guidance is aimed at the boards of all companies, whether listed or privately owned and regardless of sector or size.
The guidance acknowledges
