The FRC has published the revised version of the UK Corporate Governance Code. As flagged in its policy update statement in November, the revised Code makes much more limited changes than those proposed in the FRC’s initial consultation paper from May 2023. The majority of changes will take effect for financial years beginning on or after 1 January 2025, with the exception of revised Provision 29, which will take effect a year later. The FRC has published updated guidance to sit alongside the revised Code.

The European Commission has published practical advice in the form of recommendations explaining that the EU Taxonomy can be used not only to disclose taxonomy-aligned activities and capital expenditures, but to define transition targets and to identify the finance needed to meet them. In this way, the Commission considers that the EU Taxonomy can be used as “forward-looking tool using its criteria as reference points for setting targets.”
In this latest instalment of our Demystifying ESG series, besides considering the Commission’s recommendations generally, we’ll discuss how this “tool” will work in practice across a range of economic activities and how it can be used to compare current with planned environmental performance, as well as a communication tool to articulate transition finance needs.

This is the 20th anniversary edition of the Global Post-Acquisition Integration Handbook, which since its first publication in 2003 has served as a practical reference tool for any company contemplating, or currently executing, a multinational business acquisition and integration. Key topics such as tax, corporate and employment law are considered, and regional comparison tables summarize the main aspects of integrations in more than 30 jurisdictions. Since our last update in 2017, there has been a great deal of change in the global legal and business landscape, hence this current edition includes new content on recent legal developments in the areas of compliance and risk management (including antitrust, bribery, sanctions and customs), foreign investment review, privacy and data protection.

The transition to net zero means that companies are understandably keen to highlight such credentials, and existing and upcoming legislation in various jurisdictions, including the UK, requires certain companies to make public sustainability and environmental disclosures in annual reports and elsewhere. However, companies now face a delicate balancing act between advertising such credentials and making such disclosures, and the increased litigation risk from NGOs and other actors as well as regulatory enforcement and sanctions. The ASA’s recent decisions build upon industry-specific investigations into green claims conducted by the Competition and Markets Authority earlier this year.

ESG litigation risk is on the rise for corporates. They are facing the prospect of real monetary liability and challenges to their business models and corporate governance, whether as a result of shareholder activism, or claims by individuals, groups or communities impacted by the company’s activities or those of its subsidiaries or supply chain partners. And directors of those companies find themselves particularly under the spotlight, with claims being crafted in some cases around breach of director duties. In this latest instalment of our Demystifying ESG series, we will be delving into what this evolving liability landscape means for companies, their directors and those advising boards, with perspectives from the US, the U.K. and Europe.

Join Baker McKenzie’s Consumer Goods & Retail Industry Group for their events entitled Redefining Luxury & Fashion: What Fits in the Future? scheduled to take place in London on Tuesday, 14 March 2023 and in Paris on Thursday, 16 March 2023.

There is a growing investor focus on Environmental, Social and Governance factors in the mining sector. In recent years, mining companies with better ESG performance have delivered materially higher shareholder returns than the wider market. Further, in order to be able to access funding, mining companies are increasingly required to demonstrate a robust commitment to addressing ESG concerns and risks, as well as a strong track record of ESG compliance.

On 1 March 2023 at 1.00 pm GMT, we will be holding a demystifying ESG webinar on the topic of “Getting to net zero and a circular economy through smart investment strategies”. The more common the understanding of imminent climate risk is, the more investors embrace investment strategies that seek to achieve net zero, circularity, energy transition and other changes advancing 2050 goals, alongside financial returns, such as ESG-driven M&A and impact investing. Regulations and government policies help to scale up the impact investing trend, and with capital markets and big PE players lining up to adapt, the odds of reaching the net zero targets look brighter. Yet, many challenges remain: fragmented regulations, an abundance of reporting standards, and discussions around measuring impact vs. financial returns.

In this edition of the Demystifying ESG Webinar Series, Beatriz Araujo, Senior Counsel, Head of Corporate Governance at Baker McKenzie, Isabel Carty, Senior Associate at Baker McKenzie and Peter O’Byrne, Natura & Co Group IP director and The Body Shop General Counsel discuss diversity and how it can support the board in its role. Peter also shares some exciting initiatives of The Body Shop International Board as they relate to the role of diversity in corporate governance.

Across sectors and industries, from start-ups to multinationals, companies everywhere are talking about their sustainability credentials — and in particular, their intention to reach net-zero. Businesses have recognized that a net-zero pledge can be a powerful public message, in the face of growing pressure to tackle the climate crisis and an expectation that business be part of the solution. But amidst all the rhetoric, how much progress are we really making? Are we on course to reach net-zero by 2050, or are businesses simply jumping on the bandwagon on the road to net nowhere? We surveyed 1,000 business leaders to find out more.