In March, ACC submitted comments to the United Kingdom Financial Reporting Council (FRC) on revisions to the UK Corporate Governance Code and Guidance on Board Effectiveness, urging the FRC to incorporate a recommendation on the role of the legal function in influencing corporate culture. In its comments, ACC applauds the FRC’s direction to board and organizations on corporate culture but further advocates that the general counsel’s seat the executive leadership table is similarly critical. According to the ACC CLO 2018 Survey, general counsel in the UK are not as well-positioned as their global counterparts, with only 47 percent of GCs reporting directly to the chief executive officer, compared with 64 percent globally. The reporting structure of the GC position is an important indicator of the influence of the law department, and ACC argues that the FRC should encourage organizations to include the GC as part of the executive management team.
Read ACC’s comments here.