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In this issue
News
FRC identifies failings in modern slavery reporting
The Financial Reporting Council (FRC) has published a Report: Modern Slavery Reporting Practices in the UK, based on a sample of 100 modern slavery statements published by FTSE350 companies, which found significant failings in the quality of companies' modern slavery reporting. Many companies seem to view reporting simply as a compliance exercise, did not view human rights in their workforce and supply chain as a principal business risk, and failed to consider the consequences of modern slavery in their annual reports, particularly their section 172 statements. The report also found:
- one in ten companies did not provide a modern slavery statement even though it is legally required, and only one third of the statements by companies which complied were considered clear and easy to read;
- disclosures about key performance indicators to measure effectiveness were particularly poor; and
- the vast majority of the statements were backward-looking and only a minority identified emerging issues or a long-term strategy.
Government provides update on the register of beneficial owners of overseas entities
Lord Callanan has issued a written statement providing an update on the implementation of the Register of beneficial owners of overseas entities pursuant to the Economic Crime (Transparency and Enforcement) Act 2022. While no timeframe has been stipulated, the update stated that the government has been working “at pace” to ensure the Register is in place as soon as reasonably practicable and has established an implementation group to drive forward both technical development of the Register and the appropriate legal framework.
Companies House has also published an update confirming that it will be writing to all overseas entities within scope of the Act that own land in England, Wales and Scotland to ensure that they are aware of their new responsibilities.
UK government publishes response on reforms to competition policy
The Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) has published the government’s response on reforming competition and consumer policy. Some reforms which the government has decided to take forward include:
- requiring the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) to produce further State of Competition reports;
- allowing the CMA more flexibility in defining the scope of market investigations and improving its ability to accept binding commitments;
- revising the jurisdictional thresholds for mergers to £100 million and including a safe harbour for mergers between small businesses (with UK turnover below £10 million); and
- creating an additional basis for establishing jurisdiction where at least one of the merging businesses has: (a) an existing share of supply of goods or services of 33% in the UK; and (b) a UK turnover of £350 million.
The government is intending to give further consideration to other reforms, particularly in relation to the Competition Appeal Tribunal.