The Future of Governance is a new series of thought leadership papers from The Chartered Governance Institute UK & Ireland, launched at the House of Lords on 15 February 2017, looking at some of the principal issues in the governance environment and seeking to identify solutions to them.
In preparing these papers, we are asking our authors to think radically about governance, looking at what we are seeking to achieve and how best that may be done; rather than at how the current model can be improved. So many times in recent years, governance ‘enhancements’ have been developed from the existing regime and yet, so often, we find ourselves saying ‘if I wanted to do x, I wouldn’t start from here’. Is it time to review the system from scratch? Have we tweaked it enough? Does the governance system which we have in place deliver the outcome that we want? If not, what do we need to do about it?
All these are valid and important questions which, we believe, may often be overlooked in the rush to take action. One of the risks of using existing systems to address new problems is that new challenges can be created. Who would have thought, for example, when the reporting of executive remuneration was first being mooted, that we would reach a position where that transparency was being blamed in some quarters for the explosion in executive pay levels?
The purpose of this series of papers is, therefore, to encourage reflection; to consider the issues dispassionately; and then to look at what really needs to be done to address them. We do not expect to identify all the answers. Indeed in some cases we may simply raise more questions. But it is hoped that the process of reviewing these complex issues may give us the opportunity to make a fresh start in governance.
15 February 2017 – Untangling corporate governance
Chris Hodge, our Policy Adviser and former Director of Corporate Governance at the Financial Reporting Council, gives us his personal view of the current UK corporate governance model, its strengths and weaknesses, and whether it achieves what it is intended to achieve.
15 February 2017 – Sir Winfried Bischoff speech at the launch event
15 February 2017 – Peter Swabey speech at the launch event
15 February 2017 – Chris Hodge speech at the launch event
16 February 2017 – Press release
