Our multi-disciplinary corporate governance group includes corporate, regulatory, employment, tax and incentives and dispute resolution lawyers.
Our team advise listed companies, boards, committees, executive and non-executive directors, senior HR professionals and engaged shareholders on a variety of issues. These include:
- directors’ duties and liabilities
- compliance with the UK Corporate Governance Code, the QCA, Stewardship Code and other UK corporate governance guidelines
- remuneration (including equity incentive arrangements and remuneration code compliance)
- diversity, discrimination and recruitment
- shareholder agreements.
Shareholder engagement and activism is an increasing reality in the London markets. Our corporate governance group regularly advises listed companies and shareholders on launching and defending activist strategies in relation to board changes and other corporate governance issues. We have successfully secured the desired results through private negotiation or by the public AGM / EGM requisition route.
Our clients include institutional shareholders, alternative investment funds, activist investors, board members, investor relations firms, proxy solicitation advisers and other market participants.
We also advise bidders and targets on Takeover Code compliance and tactics to achieve the required outcome, whether a successful acquisition or defence against unwelcome approaches.
We have helped numerous clients involved in regulatory investigations by the FCA, the UKLA and AIM in relation to allegations of market abuse, breaches of Listing Rules, AIM Rules, Market Abuse Regulation (MAR) and/or the FCA regulatory regime. We have also conducted internal investigations on behalf of clients where there have been allegations of fraud and corruption.
