Must read: Survey analysis: Women in the UK boardroom

Investor group calls for worker reps on company boards

The head of Pirc, which advises pension funds responsible for assets worth £1.5tn, has called for German-style inclusion of workers on UK boards.

 

Alan MacDougall argues that such a move would provide corporate boards with a counterweight to entrenched interests.

 

Pirc also recommended that the voluntary corporate governance codes in place in the UK be replaced by rules enforceable by the Financial Services Authority.

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SA: Draft King 3 corporate governance code released

Another groundbreaking revision of the South African corporate governance code has been produced by the committee run by Mervyn King.

The second King report attracted international attention for its requirement that companies produce sustainability reports in line with recognised benchmarks such as the Global Reporting Initiative.

The new report takes the corporate responsibility agenda even further. It is no longer good enough simply to report on sustainability performance. Now sustainability is pushed as a principle so central to business operation that the report refers throughout to "integrated sustainability performance and reporting" i.e. the integration of sustainability into decision making and the annual report to shareholders.

The draft King 3 places South Africa back in the forefront of 21st century business thinking.

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Non-executive directors provide little control - survey

A survey of non-executive directors finds that a third of them feel they cannot control their chairman or CEO.

Non-executive directors are relied upon in corporate governance codes as an external check on the power of company executives.

Some 40% of non-executives surveyed did not feel they could bring about he removal of a fellow board member.

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