UK: ICSA review of the Higgs guidance - Company Law Committee response

The City of London Law Society Company Law Committee has published its response to ICSA's review of the Higgs guidance: see here (pdf). The Committee agrees with the aim of the review ("to offer guidance which, without being prescriptive, assists boards in understanding and implementing the purpose of the Code and, in so doing, delivers practical advice to boards on how they can apply the Code to enhance their effectiveness").

In section 1.1 of the first consultation paper (here, pdf) published as part of ICSA's review it was stated that the revised guidance would "refer to ethical sensitivity, and the need for the board to take account of ethical issues in setting business strategy and the manner in which business is undertaken". The Committee takes the view that this would not be useful for several reasons including the fact that including material on ethical issues may put at risk the largely uncontroversial nature of the Higgs guidance.