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Smith Report
The Smith Report was a report on corporate governance submitted to the UK government in 2003. It was concerned with the independence of auditors in the wake of the collapse of Arthur Andersen and the Enron scandal in the US in 2002. Its recommendations now form part of the Combined Code on corporate governance, applicable through the Listing Rules for the London Stock Exchange. It was substantially influenced by the views taken by the EU Commission.Official Journal, 19.07.2002, ''Commission Recommendations, Statutory Auditors' Independence in the EU: A Set of Fundamental Principles''. 200OJ L 191/22/ref> One important point was that an auditor himself should look at whether a company's corporate governance structure provides safeguards to preserve his own independence. See also * Combined Code * Cadbury Report (1992) * Greenbury Report (1995) * Hampel Report (1998) * Turnbull Report * Higgs Report (2003) References External linksSmith Report (in full) [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Corporate Governance
Corporate governance is defined, described or delineated in diverse ways, depending on the writer's purpose. Writers focused on a disciplinary interest or context (such as accounting, finance, law, or management) often adopt narrow definitions that appear purpose-specific. Writers concerned with regulatory policy in relation to corporate governance practices often use broader structural descriptions. A broad (meta) definition that encompasses many adopted definitions is "Corporate governance” describes the processes, structures, and mechanisms that influence the control and direction of corporations." This meta definition accommodates both the narrow definitions used in specific contexts and the broader descriptions that are often presented as authoritative. The latter include: the structural definition from the Cadbury Report, which identifies corporate governance as "the system by which companies are directed and controlled" (Cadbury 1992, p. 15); and the relational-structura ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Arthur Andersen
Arthur Andersen was an American accounting firm based in Chicago that provided auditing, tax advising, consulting and other professional services to large corporations. By 2001, it had become one of the world's largest multinational corporations and was one of the "Big Five" accounting firms (along with Deloitte & Touche, Ernst & Young, KPMG and PricewaterhouseCoopers). The firm collapsed by mid-2002, as details of its questionable accounting practices for energy company Enron and telecommunications company Worldcom were revealed amid the two high-profile bankruptcies. The scandals were a factor in the enactment of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002. In 2002, just nine months after the scandal broke, the firm was found guilty of crimes in the auditing of Enron. By that time, Arthur Andersen had lost most of its business and two-thirds of its 28,000 employees, and was facing multi-million dollar lawsuits. On August 31, 2002, the company surrendered its licenses to practice as c ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Enron Scandal
The Enron scandal was an accounting scandal involving Enron Corporation, an American energy company based in Houston, Texas. Upon being publicized in October 2001, the company declared bankruptcy and its accounting firm, Arthur Andersen then one of the five largest audit and accountancy partnerships in the world was effectively dissolved. In addition to being the largest bankruptcy reorganization in U.S. history at that time, Enron was cited as the biggest audit failure. Enron was formed in 1985 by Kenneth Lay after merging Houston Natural Gas and InterNorth. Several years later, when Jeffrey Skilling was hired, Lay developed a staff of executives that – by the use of accounting loopholes, special purpose entities, and poor financial reporting – were able to hide billions of dollars in debt from failed deals and projects. Chief Financial Officer Andrew Fastow and other executives misled Enron's board of directors and audit committee on high-risk accounting practices and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Combined Code
The UK Corporate Governance code, formerly known as the Combined Code (from here on referred to as "the Code") is a part of UK company law with a set of principles of good corporate governance aimed at companies listed on the London Stock Exchange. It is overseen by the Financial Reporting Council and its importance derives from the Financial Conduct Authority's Listing Rules. The Listing Rules themselves are given statutory authority under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 and require that public listed companies disclose how they have complied with the code, and explain where they have not applied the code in what the code refers to as 'comply or explain'. Private companies are also encouraged to conform; however there is no requirement for disclosure of compliance in private company accounts. The Code adopts a principles-based approach in the sense that it provides general guidelines of best practice. This contrasts with a rules-based approach which rigidly defines exa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Listing Rules
The Listing Rules (LR) are a set of regulations applicable to any company listed on a United Kingdom stock exchange, subject to the oversight of the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). The Listing Rules set out mandatory standards for any company wishing to list its shares or securities for sale to the public, including principles on executive pay and the requirement to comply or explain noncompliance with the UK Corporate Governance Code, the requirements of information in a prospectus before an initial public offering of shares, new share offers, rights issues, disclosure of price sensitive information, or takeover bids for companies. Overview *LR 1, Preliminary: All securities *LR 2, Requirements for listing: All securities *LR 3, Listing applications: All securities *LR 4, Listing particulars for professional securities market and certain other securities: All securities *LR 5, Suspending, cancelling and restoring listing: All securities *LR 6, Additional requirements for premiu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
London Stock Exchange
London Stock Exchange (LSE) is a stock exchange in the City of London, England, United Kingdom. , the total market value of all companies trading on LSE was £3.9 trillion. Its current premises are situated in Paternoster Square close to St Paul's Cathedral in the City of London. Since 2007, it has been part of the London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG, that it also lists ()). The LSE was the most-valued stock exchange in Europe from 2003 when records began till Autumn 2022, when the Paris exchange was briefly larger, until the LSE retook its position as Europe’s largest stock exchange 10 days later. History Coffee House The Royal Exchange had been founded by English financier Thomas Gresham and Sir Richard Clough on the model of the Antwerp Bourse. It was opened by Elizabeth I of England in 1571. During the 17th century, stockbrokers were not allowed in the Royal Exchange due to their rude manners. They had to operate from other establishments in the vicinity, notably Jona ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cadbury Report
The Cadbury Report, titled ''Financial Aspects of Corporate Governance'', is a report issued by "The Committee on the Financial Aspects of Corporate Governance" chaired by Sir Adrian Cadbury, chairman of Cadbury, that sets out recommendations on the arrangement of company boards and accounting systems to mitigate corporate governance risks and failures. In 1991 the London Stock Exchange set up the Cadbury committee and the report was published in draft version in May 1992. Its revised and final version was issued in December of the same year. The report's recommendations have been used to varying degrees to establish other codes such as those of the OECD, the European Union, the United States, the World Bank etc. Background Sridhar Arcot and Valentina Bruno in their article called "In Letter but not in Spirit: An Analysis of Corporate Governance in the UK" explain the background to the Cadbury Committee. Although wrong on the historical facts, as Robert Maxwell died on 5 November ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Greenbury Report
The Greenbury Report released in 1995 was the product of a committee established under the auspices of the United Kingdom Confederation of British Industry. The committee was formed at the behest of the President of the Board of Trade, Michael Heseltine, as a result of several scandals in the early 1990s. It followed in the tradition of the Cadbury Report and addressed a growing concern about the level of director remuneration. The modern result of the report is found in thUK Corporate Governance Codeat section D. Committee Members Sir Richard Greenbury, Chairman & CEO, Marks and Spencers. Sir David Chapman Partner, Wise Speke Stockbrokers. Sir Michael Angus, Chairman, Boots/Whitbread. Sir Denys Henderson, Chairman, Rank Organisation. Mr Geoff Lindey, JP Morgan. Mr Tim Melville-Ross, Director general, Institute of Directors. Mr George Metcalfe Chairman & CEO, UMECO. Sir David Simon, Chairman, BP. Sir Iain Vallance, Chairman, BT. Mr Robert Walther, CEO, Clerical Medical. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hampel Report
The Hampel Report was designed to be a revision of the corporate governance system in the UK. The remit of the committee was to review the Code laid down by the Cadbury Report (now found in the Combined Code). It asked whether the code's original purpose was being achieved. Hampel found that there was no need for a revolution in the UK corporate governance system. The Report aimed to combine, harmonise and clarify the Cadbury and Greenbury recommendations. On the question of in whose interests companies should be run, its answer came with clarity. The Hampel Report relied more on broad principles and a 'common sense' approach which was necessary to apply to different situations rather than Cadbury and Greenbury's 'box-ticking' approach. See also * Combined Code * Cadbury Report (1992) * Greenbury Report (1995) * Turnbull Report * Higgs Report (2003) * Smith Report (2003) Notes External links Full text of the combined code 2006 Full text of the combined code 2003* The Fi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Turnbull Report
''Internal Control: Guidance for Directors on the Combined Code'' (1999) also known as the "Turnbull Report" was a report drawn up with the London Stock Exchange for listed companies. The committee which wrote the report was chaired by Nigel Turnbull of The Rank Group plc. The report informed directors of their obligations under the Combined Code with regard to keeping good "internal controls" in their companies, or having good audits and checks to ensure the quality of financial reporting and catch any fraud before it becomes a problem. Revised guidance was issued in 2005. The report was superseded by a further FRC guidance issued in September 2014.https://www.frc.org.uk/Our-Work/Codes-Standards/Corporate-governance/UK-Corporate-Governance-Code/Guidance-for-boards-and-board-committees.aspx See also * UK company law * Corporate Governance * Cadbury Report (1992), ''Financial Aspects of Corporate Governance'', on corporate governance generally. Pdf filhere* Greenbury Report (1995) ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Higgs Report
''Review of the role and effectiveness of non-executive directors'' (or the "Higgs review") was a report chaired by Derek Higgs on corporate governance commissioned by the UK government, published on 20 January 2003. It reviewed the role and effectiveness of non-executive directors and of the audit committee, aiming at improving and strengthening the existing Combined Code. There was widespread unrest after the scandals in the US, involving Enron, WorldCom, and Tyco. The US opted for legislation under the Sarbanes–Oxley Act. Higgs strongly backed the existing non-prescriptive approach to corporate governance: "comply or explain". Yet he advocated more provisions with more stringent criteria for the board composition and evaluation of independent directors. He wanted to remove some of the discretion that the Code allowed. Higgs viewed the earlier scandals, which led to the Cadbury Report could have been avoided had a Code been in place. The Robert Maxwell debacle could have been ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Financial Reporting Council
The Financial Reporting Council (FRC) is an independent regulator in the UK and Ireland based in London Wall in the City of London, responsible for regulating auditors, accountants and actuaries, and setting the UK's Corporate Governance and Stewardship Codes. The FRC seeks to promote transparency and integrity in business by aiming its work at investors and others who rely on company reports, audits and high-quality risk management. In December 2018, an independent review of the FRC, led by Sir John Kingman, recommended its replacement by a new Audit, Reporting and Governance Authority, a recommendation followed by the government in March 2019. Ireland adopted the FRC's auditing framework in 2017. Structure The FRC is a company limited by guarantee, and is funded by the audit profession, who are required to contribute under the provisions of the Companies Act 2006 and by other groups subject to, or benefitting from FRC regulation. Its board of directors is appointed by the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
