News and views

3 March, 2022

In its Review Outcome paper, the UK government has set out its plans for the reform of prospectuses following its 2021 review of the prospectus regime as recommended by the Hill Review of the listing regime, which focused on ways to enhance the attractiveness of the UK capital markets and adopt a more flexible framework following Brexit.

3 March, 2022

The government has published plans to reform to the UK’s financial services regulatory framework for capital markets, with the aim of ensuring that the UK’s regulatory regime for secondary markets is fair, outcomes-based and supports competitiveness, whilst maintaining the highest regulatory standards.

10 February, 2022

The Takeover Panel is consulting on removing the restriction on a bidder purchasing target shares through an anonymous order book during an offer period.

10 February, 2022

On 3 February 2022, ESMA published a call for evidence on market characteristics for ESG rating providers to help develop a picture of the size, structure, resourcing, revenues and product offerings of the different ESG rating providers operating in the EU.

10 February, 2022

The FRC has written to the ISSB expressing strong support for the development of global standards for sustainability reporting and the UK adoption of those standards, and commenting on the Sustainability Disclosure Prototypes published by the Technical Readiness Working Group.

3 February, 2022

The European Commission has taken a major step towards including investments in gas and nuclear-based energy in the list of sustainable activities under the new EU taxonomy classification system, with the Taxonomy Complementary Climate Delegated Act proposing criteria and disclosure rules for their inclusion.

3 February, 2022

According to new PWC research, CEOs see cyber-attacks as the most serious threat to their companies over the next 12 months.

3 February, 2022

Independent research commissioned by the Financial Reporting Council builds on similar research in 2020, reinforcing the case for developing standards for Audit Committees to help promote a more consistent approach to audit quality. The research, conducted by YouGov, is based on in-depth interviews with Audit Committee Chairs (ACCs) discussing how they carry out their role.

2 February, 2022

ESMA's proposed amendments to its Suitability Guidelines provide a better idea of how it expects sustainability considerations to be built into the suitability process, ahead of sustainability preferences becoming integrated into the MiFID II suitability requirements from August 2022. The proposed amendments would increase the anticipated burden on asset managers and those providing investment advice.

26 January, 2022

The World Economic Forum has published the 17th edition of its Global Risks Report, which identifies the tensions that will result from a divergent recovery.

Industry News 26 January, 2022

It is fantastic to see the recognition of IR and its growing importance as featured in this week’s Times article by Patrick Hosking. This is supported by the recent findings from our MiFID II research conducted by The London School of Economics and The University of Glasgow, in conjunction with the IR Society, with MiFID regulation creating both opportunity and challenges for IR.

26 January, 2022

The FRC has published for comment its 3-year Plan for 2022-25, acknowledging the FRC’s continued commitment to being an effective and transparent regulator as it prepares to transition to the Audit, Reporting and Governance Authority.

26 January, 2022

The FRC has launched the application process for its Stakeholder Insight Group (SIG), a new cross-stakeholder panel that will represent preparers, investors, audit committee chairs and other key parts of our stakeholder universe including reporting framework owners and civil society groups.

26 January, 2022

Aviva Investors will hold investee companies accountable to a wider definition of sustainability in 2022, with companies set to be judged against expectations on biodiversity and human rights, as much as climate and executive pay.

6 January, 2022

The FCA has published two Policy Statements confirming final rules and guidance to promote better climate-related financial disclosures.

Informed 20 December, 2021

The Winter 2021/22 issue of Informed provides in-depth coverage of the 2021 Best Practice Awards, which were held in late November. It also includes a feature titled 'Best in class', which profiles some of the award-winning companies.

IR Society News Industry News 24 November, 2021

At Tuesday night’s annual Investor Relations Society Best Practice Awards dinner, the IR Society recognised those companies that are leading the way in IR best practice and stakeholder engagement.

Industry News 18 November, 2021

The Financial Reporting Council (FRC) has today, 18 November 2021, published its latest edition of Developments in Audit, which sets out the FRC’s annual assessment of UK audit and ongoing expectations for how audit firms should deliver audit quality improvements to deliver a more effective audit market in the public interest.

IR Society News 21 October, 2021

The UK Investor Relations Society (IR Society) and the Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE) are delighted to announce a partnership offering the IR Society’s International Certificate in Investor Relations.

Consultation Responses 20 October, 2021

IR Society response to CP21/24 ‘Diversity and inclusion on company boards and executive committees’