Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer explores new directions for UK corporate governance priorities in latest report

Leading global law firm Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer has today launched the latest edition of Governance Insights, an annual report analysing the corporate governance issues currently exercising Boardroom minds.

This year's report, 'Familiar themes but new directions', questions whether promises of governance reform proposals to simplify and streamline processes are too good to be true. It also explores how executives are being pulled in multiple directions, from preparing for new sustainability reporting requirements in the UK to understanding the risks of adopting AI.

Within the report, lawyers from Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer's UK corporate governance advisory practice cover a range of topics, including:

• Preparing for ISSB sustainability reporting in the UK – learning from the state of play in Australia and the EU.
• Embracing artificial intelligence – how AI might be incorporated in the boardroom and beyond.
• Pushing for change – ways in which directors might respond to activist shareholders.
• Redefining better business - new standards for B Corps and their implications.
• Addressing directors' remuneration – how the picture has changed.

The feature piece of the report is an interview with Jen Sisson, CEO of the International Corporate Governance Network, which considers developments in this year's reporting and AGM season, as well as various corporate governance reform initiatives.

Gareth Sykes, partner and UK head of corporate governance advisory, comments: "While a number of familiar corporate governance themes continue to occupy boardrooms across the UK, the direction of travel for these issues continues to shift. Implementing existing reform programmes, incorporating AI in the boardroom and putting into practice new UK sustainability reporting standards are just a handful of the measures that are currently in focus." 

To access the new report, please click here.