Clifford Chance

Your 2020 AGM Update and Beyond

21 January 2020

This coming AGM season will inevitably be dominated by the need for premium listed companies to report against their compliance (or explain any non-compliance) with the updated 2018 UK Corporate Governance Code, coupled with the new statutory requirement to publish a section 172 statement. 

One further area where we are also seeing an increasing number of queries is the additional new statutory requirement for "large" unlisted UK-incorporated companies to publish a statement of their corporate governance arrangements in their directors' reports. Many premium listed companies with subsidiary companies that are affected by this requirement are currently deliberating whether to report against the application of the Wates Principles or adopt a different approach.  Thankfully, against this backdrop of regulatory change, most companies' AGM notices are not expected to require any substantive change.  In this Update, we examine the above developments and other changes affecting the coming AGM season and the preparation of the annual financial report. We also look ahead to other governance and narrative reporting-related changes on the horizon.

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