Articles by Catherine Sellars
Companies House picks up the pace on authorised corporate service providers and identity verification
The pace is certainly picking up on implementation of the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023 (ECCTA), which will introduce a radical transformation of how people deal with Companies House. If you need a refresher, more details can be found in our toolkit here.
ESG ratings: who rates them?
Rachel Reeves has recently announced her plans to accelerate the development of new legislation regulating the way in which ESG ratings are formulated and applied in the UK, building upon work started by the previous administration earlier this year. The way in which ESG ratings are created and measured is largely an unregulated landscape at the moment.
Update on UK Sustainability Disclosure Requirements
Last week, the UK government provided an update on the implementation of the UK's Sustainability Disclosure Requirements (SDR) framework. Introducing economy-wide SDRs is central to the government's long-term strategy of facilitating transparent flows of information between key stakeholder corporates, investors and other stakeholders in order to ensure that those looking to allocate capital with sustainability in mind can do so on the basis of readily available and reliable data.
The Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive
This note gives an overview of the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD), an EU directive which came into force in 2023 as part of the EU’s green deal. The CSRD introduces new obligations for in-scope companies to report on environmental, social and governance (ESG) matters relating to their operations and their impact on the wider world. The scope of the CSRD extends to companies incorporated outside the EU that meet certain criteria.
Revised Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive is approved
The Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD) received backing from the European Council in a vote on 15 March. The vote concludes weeks of negotiations and revisions to the text of the CSDDD after its failure to secure the Council's approval at the end of February.
CSDDD falls at the final hurdle
On Wednesday, the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD) failed to achieve support from a qualified majority at the final vote by the European Council. The vote had been delayed from its originally scheduled date of 9 February to tackle resistance voiced by the German and Italian governments.
Appointing Nature to the Board - can it be done?
It’s been seven years since the Ganges and Yamuna Rivers in India and Whanganui River in New Zealand made headlines for being granted legal standing. Under the law of India and New Zealand respectively, the rivers constituted legal persons with their own rights, duties and liabilities so the principles of human rights law could be leveraged to preserve and protect them (although the Ganges and Yamuna only lasted a year before being turned back into, well… just rivers).
Provisional deal reached on the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive
On 14 December 2023, the European Council issued a confirming that the Council and European Parliament had reached a provisional deal on the draft Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD).
Wouldn't it B lovely: B Corp certification and the "legal requirement"
In this article, we explore the process of becoming a B Corp with a particular focus on the requirement for prospective B Corps to amend their articles of association and its implications for the liability of directors exercising their duty to promote the success of the company (which is one of the statutory duties that all directors owe under the Companies Act 2006). 1. What is a B Corp?
ECCTA: An overview
The Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023 (ECCTA) embodies the culmination of governmental consultations in 2019 and 2020; a White Paper on corporate transparency and register reform in February 2022; and a year of Parliamentary review following the first draft of the ECCTA being published in September 2022.
The King's Speech: A governance sized gap
The King's Speech took place on 7 November, setting out the programme of legislation that the government intends to pursue in the forthcoming parliamentary session (the next year, roughly speaking). Economic growth, inflation, climate change, driverless cars, e-cigarettes… all were mentioned but the long promised reforms to corporate governance were notably absent.
Royal Assent received for the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Bill
The Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act (ECCTA) received Royal Assent today. The ECCTA introduces wide ranging reforms to Companies House, new corporate offences, identity verification requirements and a whole host of other provisions, all with the aim of furthering the fight against fraud and corruption.
Rethinking the red tape: government scraps draft Companies (Strategic Report and Directors’ Report) (Amendment) Regulations 2023
On 16 October, the Department of Business and Trade released an announcement that the draft Companies (Strategic Report and Directors’ Report) (Amendment) Regulations 2023 (Regulations) are being withdrawn, only three months after they were laid before Parliament.
Corporate governance - changes on the horizon for large private companies
In the wake of high-profile corporate collapses, the government, some time ago, announced proposals for audit and corporate governance reform. New draft legislation has been proposed setting out new corporate reporting requirements, and one particular feature of this legislation is that large private companies fall within the scope of the requirements.
Corporate governance - changes on the horizon for large private companies
In the wake of high-profile corporate collapses, the government, some time ago, announced proposals for audit and corporate governance reform. New draft legislation has been proposed setting out new corporate reporting requirements, and one particular feature of this legislation is that large private companies fall within the scope of the requirements.
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