Collaboration in action: UK Corporate Governance Code Reform

4 min read
Mar 18, 2024

Why are risk leaders choosing to collaborate with peers as a first response to the latest announcements on UK Corporate Governance Code reform?

What is the UK Corporate Governance code reform?

On 22nd January 2024, the Financial Reporting Council (FRC) announced revisions to the UK Corporate Governance Code which applies to all companies with a premium listing in the UK.

According to the FRC's statement, the changes are designed to enhance transparency on internal controls, to ensure that the UK maintains a global reputation for high standards of corporate governance and remains a desirable place to do business.

Member meeting
Collaborate with CROs and heads of risk on UK Corporate Governance Code reform
We're facilitating a series of collaborative meetings to help risk leaders save time and avoid unnecessary work responding to the latest announcement.
Request to participate

Reasons risk leaders are collaborating on the code changes

Although the FRC’s CEO Richard Moriarty said that the revisions are designed to be proportionate and minimise the reporting burdens on businesses, heads of risk have raised concerns that implementing the changes may require significant work. Moreover, they are worried that external advisors could over-engineer the required response of UK-listed companies.

“I'm worried that the Big Four are going to say we should be carrying out an extensive amount of work, immediately, in light of the latest announcement. We'll be very glad of their expertise further down the line, but I'm pleased to be able to come to Risk Leadership Network first to understand the real scope of the project, based on what actions CROs at other UK-listed companies are actually taking."
member
Risk Leadership Network member

CRO at a FTSE-listed organisation

Following the FRC's latest announcement, a number of our FTSE and UK members contacted their network manager, from our team, requesting a "debrief" with peers before taking their next steps internally. 

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Download the meeting notes from the "debrief"
15 CROs came together in March to discuss their action plans for UK Corporate Governance Code
Download

 

Why was Risk Leadership Network the first port of call for these forward-thinking CROs and heads of risk? They discussed a number of reasons with our network managers:
 

Benchmark against peers

Understand how other organisations affected by the changes are interpreting and responding to the changes and what actions they're taking in the next 6-12 months.

Validate a more measured approach

A number of members are under pressure to be early adopters of the reform. They'll take the information from the collaborations to their board to validate a more measured approach.

Avoid unnecessary work and find quick wins

Focus their attention on the parts of the reform that their peers are also prioritising. They get to learn — quickly— how peers are leveraging existing risk and controls processes in their business to comply with the new changes, and avoid extra work.

Focus consultancy spend

Some members mentioned that they'll be using external consultants for implementation of this project. Speaking to peers, first, enables them scope out the project and focus on certain areas, avoiding spiraling costs.

Members told us that, if they made the wrong decisions now on responding to the reform announcement, their team's workload could end up trebling. By collaborating they're not only able to see what their peers are prioritising, but also what quick wins, or existing work, could help with the new requirements. 

 

What's a network manager?

Every member organisation at Risk Leadership Network has a dedicated network manager on our team who works to understand their priorities and facilitate targeted collaboration in response. 

Whilst most of our work for members is prioritised on a quarterly basis, we also support you when more immediate and unexpected challenges arise - UK Corporate Governance Code reform being one of those changes. Explore our tailored approach here.

 


Future collaborations on UK Corporate Governance Code reform

We're facilitating a series of collaborative virtual meetings for risk leaders to share approaches to UK Corporate Governance Code reform.
 

Virtual collaborative meeting on 14th May 2024, 9am

UK Corporate Governance Code: how to better engage the board/ARC on risk management and controls

Virtual collaborative meeting on 26th June 2024, 9am

UK Corporate Governance Code: taking a holistic view of regulatory risk management

Spaces are limited - we keep attendance low to enable effective collaboration. This meeting is for members of Risk Leadership Network but we give prospective members the opportunity to participate in one collaboration as a guest. Request to participate in the meeting on 14th May as a guest - places are given to members first, and guests on a first-come first-served basis.

Future collaborations

Over the following weeks, we'll also be scheduling a series of virtual collaborative meetings in line with the specific challenges our members have raised with the CGC changes, including: 

  • How to create and optimise a controls framework;
  • How to measure the effectiveness of your risk/controls framework;
  • Declarations required of the board  - how are risk teams getting to the stage of declaring? What processes are they taking to create and confirm those declarations?
  • How are organisations setting up assurance frameworks - and making sure they are fit for purpose?
Member meeting
Collaborate with CROs and heads of risk on UK Corporate Governance Code reform
We're facilitating a series of collaborative meetings to help risk leaders save time and avoid unnecessary work responding to the latest announcement.
Request to participate

Looking forward

We'll continue to facilitate collaborations in response to member priorities on the UK's Corporate Governance Code reform. 

Our member organisations set the agenda and get priority spots at our small collaborative meetings. Book an introductory call to discuss becoming a Risk Leadership Network member.

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