The New FRC Corporate Governance Code 2024: Raising the Bar or Redrawing the Lines?

OVERVIEW

With the 2024 revision of the UK Corporate Governance Code, the FRC has introduced more robust expectations around internal controls, board accountability and ESG disclosures. For ops, finance, risk and compliance leaders, this represents more than an update: it’s potentially a major shift in how assurance, oversight, and risk are embedded into governance frameworks. We’ll ask: 

• Does the benefit of increased transparency on the effectiveness of internal controls outweigh the challenge of new layers of risk and liability the code brings? How do regulators avoid placing an uneven compliance burden on smaller listed entities?
• How should functional leaders best prepare to support boards under the new regime, particularly in documenting control effectiveness, aligning ESG metrics with financial reporting, and adapting assurance practices?
• With this guidance and regulation evolving more rapidly in the UK than in other markets, is this a step toward global leadership in governance…or a potential competitive disadvantage?