Financial Reporting Council (FRC) publishes Review of Stewardship Reporting 2022

By the end of last year the Financial Reporting Council (which promotes transparency and integrity in the business and is amongst others responsible for the oversight, monitoring and development of the UK Stewardship Code) published a Review of Stewardship Reporting 2022. That year the RRC saw, as Sir Jonathan Thompson, Chief Executive Officer FRC wrote in the foreword of the paper, „improvements in reporting in several areas, such as the quality of activity and outcome reporting for engagement, collaboration and escalation; contributions made to addressing market-wide and systemic risks; and reporting on how signatories monitor and hold to account third parties, such as asset managers and service providers.“ „However“, continued Thomson, „we still wish to see greater emphasis from signatories on reporting their activities and outcomes more effectively, using both quantitative and qualitative evidence“.

The review outlines the FRC’s key areas of focus for 2023, which includes reporting on the outcomes of engagement and providing case studies to illustrate both the activity in the year and the progress towards those outcomes.

To support stakeholders’ continued improvement, the review also gives guidance on the reporting exercising rights and responsibilities and monitoring and holding third-party managers to account.

The review comprises 49 pages which provide an overview of the stewardship reporting assessed in the Spring 2022 period and explains also how the FRC expectations for reporting will evolve for the 2023 assessment year, because in 2023 the FRC will, as the FRC says in the report, „place more emphasis in our assessment process on reporting of activities and outcomes“.

A stimulating report, which we recommend to read.