Be prepared. Change is here.

January – the month where most people slowly get back into the swing of things after the festivities. "If only", cry the governance professionals. January is a busy period for us. In particular, we must focus on our disclosures making sure that all of the new changes that came into effect for financial years starting 1 January 2019 are covered in our reporting. We must work with key teams throughout our organisations. Together, we'll make sure adequate action is being taken to draw up and align processes and procedures. We must have something to disclose that is meaningful.

What changed in 2019 and what does that mean for us?

2019 was a year of change in governance. We saw a number of changes including:

• The implementation of the Corporate Governance Code 2018 for companies listed on the Stock Exchange. 
• The Quoted Companies Alliance Corporate Governance Code, for companies on the AIM market 
• The ground breaking Wates Corporate Governance Principles, the code for large private companies. 

2020 will be the year that we see all of these changes come into effect and the implications of these changes and their results are far-reaching. Core governance framework documents including annual reporting and accounts, sustainability reports, committee terms of reference, and policies including whistleblowing and diversity, are all affected.

2020 must be the year of climate action.

In 2019 additional reporting was introduced under the Streamlined Energy & Carbon Reporting framework ("SECR") for financial years starting on or after 1 April 2019. In 2020 we will start to see reports action these changes. As a starting point, companies will have to provide a narrative on any energy efficiency action taken in the previous financial year. 

Wait there's more…

The Stewardship Code was also revised last year and those changes became effective from 1 January 2020. There are new expectations about how investment and stewardship are integrated, including environmental, social and governance issues. 

And finally

In 2019 the Corporate Governance (Miscellaneous Reporting) Regulations 2018, introduced new reporting requirements on employee engagement and director remuneration. This applies to company reporting on financial years starting on or after 1 January 2019 so again we’ll be seeing these statements included in report and accounts moving forward.

We've been gearing up for this and can appreciate that there's a lot to digest. Please do get in touch if you'd like some help navigating this changing landscape. info@roundgovernance.co.uk