Key Isle of Man non-executive board members gathered last week at a special breakfast briefing on the latest developments in corporate governance.
Organised by PwC as part of their ongoing commitment to keep board members up to date on governance and related matters, over 30 senior business people heard presentations from Nick Halsall, PwC Isle of Man Assurance Partner, and Wendy Jessup, PwC Isle of Man Assurance Manager.
The event gave an overview of the current corporate governance landscape and its relevance to companies in the Isle of Man, including current activity by the UK Government’s Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, the Financial Services Authority, the European Union and recent changes to the UK Corporate Governance Code and Stewardship Code announced by the Financial Reporting Council in September 2012. Guests were also given an insight in to recent feedback from the Financial Reporting Review Panel on the quality of financial reporting.
The changes to the UK Corporate Governance Code largely implement the ideas of the FRC’s ‘Effective company stewardship’ initiative. Aimed at giving investors increased confidence that the information in a company's annual report is transparent and reliable, the changes apply to premium listed companies for accounting periods beginning on or after 1 October 2012. PwC has supported this initiative since it began, believing that an effective independent audit committee coupled with high-quality corporate reporting can make a significant contribution to rebuilding trust and confidence in business and to fostering a more stable, long-term focus in the market in general.
There is certainly plenty of scope for change, a recent global survey of investors by PwC found that many had little idea of what an audit committee actually does, and few read the audit committee section of the annual report.
The two main aspects of the changes encompass delivering a ‘fair, balanced and understandable’ annual report and Audit committee’s reporting of ‘significant issues’. Nick Halsall commented:
“We expect that many companies will provide more transparent information on the work of the audit committee, which was already developing as best practice. Some may also want to confirm that the annual report is fair, balanced and understandable, and we believe all boards should consider at the earliest opportunity whether they would be in a position to make that statement, given the existing Code and Disclosure Rules and Transparency Rules requirements in that regard. As with so much in governance, the Code’s success will depend on the extent to which it drives both behaviour and reporting in practice. We urge companies to grasp this opportunity to revisit their corporate reporting processes and the quality of their annual reports.”
PwC Senior Partner, Ian Clague commented: “Nick has a huge range of international corporate governance experience, and advises both listed and AIM companies here in the Isle of Man, and Wendy has a wealth of relevant accounting technical knowledge. This presentation and the closing Q and A session provided a tailored insight for us here in the Isle of Man, and I am sure that the briefing was of value to the breakfast audience. PwC is committed to supporting the local non-executive board community and I look forward to the upcoming future events with interest.”
A repeat of this event will be arranged in the coming weeks for those that were unable to attend this event. Anyone interested in attending the repeat event or any future events in the series should contact Linda Jackson on 689 689 or email her at l.jackson@iom.pwc.com
Photo - Nick Halsall and Wendy Jessup
