ABSTRACT

This chapter considers the 'United Kingdom Corporate Governance Code' of 2016, which is the applicable code for public companies in the UK. It also considers the key provisions of the code before considering some of literature that has analysed the development of corporate governance norms in variety of jurisdictions. Corporate governance has become an increasingly important topic within study of company law. In UK, corporate governance thinking emerged originally out of concerns about three principal issues: the level of directors' remuneration, the reliability of the audit of company accounts and fears about the unbridled power of chief executive officers and small cabals within senior management. The Conservative Government issued Green Paper in November 2016 titled 'Corporate Governance Reform', which asked its readers to give their views on number of ideas about 'corporate governance'. The impetus to introduce stronger corporate governance codes in UK and to begin the process in earnest in USA was result of a series of corporate scandals.