Corporate governance for listed companies: navigating challenges and embracing innovation

If you are a listed company or thinking about ‘going public’ here in the UK, you will no doubt be quite familiar with at least the basics around corporate governance due to the regulatory requirement to adhere to a corporate governance code.

Regardless of this requirement to ‘comply or explain’ with a code, however, practising good corporate governance and taking a proactive approach to governance evolution within your organisation can have real advantages for a business.

In this article, Chris Mayfield, Ocorian’s Head of Business Development for UK & EMEA discusses some of the latest developments in corporate governance and how companies should embrace change to prosper going forward.

What are the hot topics for listed company governance in 2025?

As we move into a particularly turbulent time for international trade and investment, listed companies have the unique challenge of having to directly address and manage public investor sentiment, and in this area, we see several key questions being raised, such as:

• Is the board effective enough to steer the business through a turbulent economic climate and continue to win?

• Does the company understand, and is it taking appropriate action to mitigate any risks associated with its international presence?

• Is the board embracing new technologies to enable it good decision making and strategic agility?

Addressing board effectiveness

You may have a collection of fantastic senior leaders, but are they delivering in the board room? Regular board evaluations form the cornerstone of an effective board by helping the CEO obtain an unbiased understanding of the skills, the culture and the opportunities for improvement in board performance.

These annual board evaluations can provide the framework for structured ongoing learning, peer-to-peer coaching and open workshops. In doing so, a board can build director confidence, provide a more trusting environment for honest discussion and a more constructive approach for disagreements and decision making.

A confident, trusting and more collaborative boardroom is more agile, makes better decisions, and this is ultimately a win for investor sentiment.

Addressing risks associated with your international group structure

International organisations face an ever evolving and increasingly complex regulatory environment. If you are a listed business, falling foul of regulations abroad can have a serious knock-on effect back home.

The key mitigating risk in your international group structure is to having a strong compliance framework in place. Make sure you understand in detail your international reporting calendar and work with reputable, locally-based compliance professionals to ensure your international obligations are met.

Take a proactive approach to compliance in the regions. This means meeting regularly with your in-country teams to understand the local hot topics and potential new regulatory requirements coming down the road so you can prepare for them well in advance.

Embracing boardroom technology

Technology is transforming the way boards operate. Gone are the days of printing out tens of copies of board packs, only to have to reprint them moments later when new additions are made. Here are some key technological advancements in the boardroom which should be embraced:

• Electronic board portals: Electronic board portals provide a secure platform for meeting materials, agendas, and decisions. These portals facilitate the provision of electronic board packs and document libraries, allowing users to access the board packs remotely on a current and historic basis. Additional features like secure voting, collaboration tools, and analytics support informed, quick decision-making.

• Minuting: Producing accurate meeting minutes is crucial for company secretaries. We see businesses increasingly leveraging speech recognition software to streamline the documentation of boardroom discussions and reduce human error. Whilst board minutes should never be produced verbatim – using speech recognition software can still provide a fantastic framework to produce a formal set of minutes in double-quick time.

• AI: The integration of artificial intelligence into company secretarial and governance tasks is a sensitive topic, particularly at this relatively early stage in its development. However, there is an increasing usage of AI in areas such as research, document summarisation and the preparation of materials. This allows board members to make more effective use of their time and come to decisions in a more streamlined manner.

It has been known and documented many times that adopting a good corporate governance framework is core to a successful business. With today’s complex and changing international markets, however, those that drive governance evolution within an organisation have the potential to gain the greatest competitive advantage. Embracing technology, embracing change, embracing the need to improve and adapt – these qualities are what can turn a good board in to a great one. 

To know more about Ocorian’s corporate governance services for listed companies, contact our AIM governance and compliance team.