INTRODUCTION Contributed by: James Palmer, Gareth Sykes and Isobel Hoyle, Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer
adopted and, in the case of the CSRD, during its phased implementation, has caused uncertain - ty for companies, many of which have already dedicated significant resources in responding to these directives. An aspect of reporting which can place addi - tional strain on companies’ resources is the fragmentation of reporting frameworks adopted in different jurisdictions. This lack of cohesion is also detrimental to investors and other inter- ested stakeholders as it makes it far harder to compare entities which are subject to different reporting regimes. The International Sustainabil - ity Standards Board (ISSB) was created in 2021, with a mandate to develop international sustain - ability disclosure standards. These standards are designed to operate for sustainability-related reporting in the same way as the IFRS framework operates for accounting standards. The ISSB issued the final form of its first two sustainability disclosure standards (ISSB Standards) in June 2023 and now individual jurisdictions are deter - mining whether, and how, to incorporate these standards into their domestic reporting frame - work. It is hoped that the ISSB Standards will become as universally endorsed and applied as the IFRS’s accounting standards, which would assist entities operating in, and subject to the reporting requirements of, multiple jurisdictions. Embracing Innovation Governments can help to boost growth and economic performance by ensuring that busi - nesses can take maximum advantage of techno - logical tools to drive efficiency, and by removing unnecessary barriers to the deployment of these tools. Again, there are examples of governments exploring how to incorporate technological advancements into best corporate governance practices.
An example of such an initiative is the UK gov - ernment’s stated plan to review the law relat - ing to virtual annual general meetings (AGMs). Whilst relaxations were introduced during the COVID-19 pandemic to allow companies to hold their AGMs virtually, these relaxations were sub - sequently removed once restrictions on travel and gathering in groups were removed. In light of the experience during the pandemic, the UK government has announced that its push to modernise company law will include clarifying the law in relation to the legality of virtual AGMs. This is an approach already permitted in Austral - ia, where companies can hold fully virtual AGMs if the company’s constitution permits this. The Australian Securities and Investments Commis - sion (ASIC) maintains guidance for companies which sets out FAQs on fully virtual meetings and hybrid meetings, clarifying that the law does not mandate a particular meeting format. There are various factors a company would need to weigh up when deciding which meeting format is most suitable in its individual circumstances but introducing this flexibility, and removing the current uncertainty, would be a further step in modernising shareholder engagement and com - munication in the UK. Whilst corporate governance initiatives may not grab all the headlines, there are steps being tak - en in many jurisdictions which will have a mean - ingful impact on how companies are managed and administrated. The summaries presented in this Guide for individual jurisdictions provide a clear overview of the corporate governance framework being applied in those jurisdictions and also highlight some of the hot topics and trends currently being seen. The Guide will therefore be a useful resource for companies as they navigate the regulatory landscape in the jurisdictions in which they operate.
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