On 28 April 2016, the FCA published a press release announcing that a director of three debt management firms (Debts Reduced Ltd, Linked Finance Ltd and a firm set up in the director’s own name) has been sentenced at Cardiff Crown Court for fraud by abuse of position. Read FCA press release = http://bit.ly/1XXMBoG The court […]

The FCA has published a report produced by Boardroom Review which was commissioned by the FCA board to undertake a review of its effectiveness. The review was conducted between June and October 2015 and the outcome considered by the board at its meetings in October and December 2015. The review highlighted many strengths of the […]

On 15 October 2015, HM Treasury announced, in a policy paper on extending the senior managers and certification regime (SM&CR) to all financial services firms, that it was scrapping the controversial “presumption of responsibility”. This was the provision that, where there was a failing by a bank in an area for which a senior banker […]

In this report (originally published by PLC) Alison McHaffie (Partner, UK @ CMS) discusses the government’s decision to replace the controversial “presumption of responsibility” with a statutory “duty of responsibility” requiring senior managers to take reasonable steps to prevent regulatory breaches in their area of responsibility. The report also considers what this means in practice […]

On 3 November 2015, the PRA issued a speech given by Andrew Bailey, PRA Chief Executive and Bank of England (BoE) Deputy Governor for Prudential Regulation, on governance and the role of boards in banks, insurers and major investment firms. http://www.bankofengland.co.uk/publications/Documents/speeches/2015/speech858.pdf In his speech, Mr Bailey considers the role of boards in the broader setting […]

The corporate governance framework for listed companies in the UK is constantly evolving. Companies need to be aware of EU and UK legislative changes, Corporate Governance Code changes, revised guidance and views from the institutional investor bodies and certain consultations and proposals. The Herbert Smith Corporate Governance Advisory Team periodically produces a table which summarises […]

The Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators (ICSA) has published guidance on the 2014 edition of the UK Corporate Governance Code (Code) in relation to notice of shareholder meetings. Provision E.2.4 of the Code states that companies should arrange for notices of annual general meetings (AGM) to be sent to shareholders at least 20 working […]

CRD IV also requires firms to provide clear accounts of the way their boards work and to write annual ‘updates’ that keep track of the ways in which they govern themselves. The intention is that no director should hold too many directorships, the better to ensure that he is able to devote enough time to […]