Companies in the financial services sector saw an onslaught of regulatory and corporate governance proposals in 2009 from various bodies.

Throughout 2009, the Financial Reporting Council (FRC) has also separately been reviewing the Combined Code. In December 2009 the FRC published its final proposals for public consultation, which followed the Walker Report the previous month. The FRC proposals can be accessed here (www.frc.org.uk/corporate/reviewCombined.cfm).

In addition to general recommendations on board governance (including consulting on whether the whole board – or, alternatively, just the chairman – should be required to submit to annual re-election), greater shareholder involvement and a change in name to the "UK Corporate Governance Code", the FRC has made various remuneration proposals.

Ahead of the looming annual report and AGM season for many companies, the FRC's proposed changes to the Combined Code as they affect remuneration are summarised in the enclosed article (www.law-now.com/law-now/2009/frcconjan2010.htm). Walker recommendations not adopted by the FRC are also discussed for comparison, alongside the probably more important recent Association of British Insurers (ABI) letter to chairmen of remuneration committees (which can be accessed here) (www.abi.org.uk/) which contains a useful update of the ABI's current position

Final comments on the proposals are sought by the FRC by 5th March 2010, with the intention that the amended and newly named code will apply to all companies with 30th June 2010 or later year-ends.

Nicholas Stretch will be speaking at a Quoted Companies Alliance sponsored breakfast event on 26th February to discuss these and other relevant changes and developments.

This article was written for Law-Now, CMS Cameron McKenna's free online information service. To register for Law-Now, please go to www.law-now.com/law-now/mondaq

Law-Now information is for general purposes and guidance only. The information and opinions expressed in all Law-Now articles are not necessarily comprehensive and do not purport to give professional or legal advice. All Law-Now information relates to circumstances prevailing at the date of its original publication and may not have been updated to reflect subsequent developments.

The original publication date for this article was 13/01/2010.