The Financial Reporting Council (FRC) has published the new UK corporate governance code (the code) which comes into force from 1 January 2019. Annual reporting compliance with the code is a listing requirement for companies with a premium listing in equity shares.

The code will be of interest to all trust board members as a benchmark of good corporate governance which is tried and tested not least as the code of governance for NHS foundation trusts has historically been updated in line with the code. This briefing, which is available at the link below, summarises key changes set out in the code.

In our view, the new code represents a significant change that should have a positive impact on the application of corporate governance in the UK. We will be speaking to colleagues in NHS Improvement about the prospect of updating the code for NHS foundation trusts to ensure it is also relevant for NHS trusts and in line with the UK code of governance.

The code can be found on The Financial Reporting Council’s website.