The UK Financial Reporting Council’s Stewardship Code has reached 297 signatories, the week before its consultation on the code closes. The code’s signatories comprise 199 asset managers, 77 asset owners and 21 service providers, which represent £52.3 trillion (US$64.7 trillion) in AUM. This is an increase from the 289 signatories and £50.3 trillion in AUM when the list was last updated in July. “It’s great to see the number of signatories to the UK Stewardship Code continuing to grow and even better to see that some have already begun to apply the measures we introduced last summer, which has had the desired outcome of shorter reports,” said Mark Babington, Executive Director of Regulatory Standards at the FRC. The FRC is currently consulting on revisions to the 2020 edition of the Stewardship Code, with the consultation closing on 19 February. The FRC plans to publish an updated code that will come into effect in 2026. The consultation has introduced five principles for a revised code, including a new stewardship definition focused on long-term value, a more streamlined reporting process, targeted principles for different signatories such as proxy advisors, and guidance to aid the implementation of updated reporting requirements.
