The attempt by the FRC to move away from a compliance
mindset is laudable
When an old friend has a makeover, it is not always easy for
those of us who, like me, tend to be sceptical of
change.
On 5 December, the Financial Reporting Council published their
consultation on proposed revisions to the UK Corporate Governance
Code. Despite my instincts, I generally thought that the team at
the FRC did a good job at focusing the code more on principles and
less on provisions.
The aspiration – to encourage people to focus on the
purpose of corporate governance and how it can be used to underpin
the long-term health of the company, rather than see it as a
compliance exercise – is entirely laudable, but the
compliance mindset may not be easy to eradicate, being both
deep-rooted and widespread.
