'Shareholders in the dark about audit activities'

News Article - 17 December 2010
Category: Business

Almost a quarter of firms within the FTSE 350 do not give their shareholders full reports of what their audit committees do, a study has shown.

The recent Local Authority Pension Fund Forum (LAPFF) has found that 23 per cent of companies fail to provide sufficient details for their shareholders.

In addition, the quality of audit committee reporting was shown to vary depending on the size of company.

LAPFF is now calling for the Combined Code on Corporate Governance to incorporate a request for a more detailed description of the activities of a firm's audit committee during the year as opposed to a general summary of its duties.

The body said in a statement that while the code had been useful in encouraging strong disclosure in some areas, the value of thorough narrative reporting in relation to activities during the year needed to be better emphasised.

LAPFF was responding to the Financial Reporting Council's recent consultation on the Combined Code.

Article keywords:

---

More industry news

• Think tank warns UK may have already slipped back into recession
• Growing demand for HR staff in technology and international sectors
• Boosting business growth a ‘priority’ to avoid Eurozone slowdown
• HMRC launches alternative disputes pilot scheme this week
• December employment statistics disregard gloomy recruitment predictions
• Eurozone manufacturing PMI shows modest improvement
• UK scores highly for economic governance by ratings agency
• Government launches two-year project focusing on manufacturing sector
• Burden of regulation on UK businesses ‘too high’

Back to news home page »