At the close of the FRC’s latest consultation on 'effective company stewardship', UKSA is accusing the FRC of hostility towards private investors.
As the only democratic body representing private shareholders, UKSA is calling on the FRC to start paying attention to their needs.
In a letter and 4,000 word response (see attachments) to the FRC’s consultation paper on Enhancing Corporate Reporting and Audit, UKSA is critical of a number of recommendations made by the FRC, which we say won’t improve the position of owners – a word conspicuous by its absence from the FRC’s document. UKSA is highly critical of auditors and pours scorn on the FRC’s proposal to end the requirement for printed annual reports.
The FRC says, "It would not be appropriate to dictate by detailed regulation the information to be provided to meet users’ needs.... because some users will attach importance to particular information. Nor would it be appropriate to dictate by whom such information should be provided."
"Why then," asks UKSA, "does the FRC consider that it is appropriate to dictate the means by which that information is to be provided?"
The private investor is the perfect stakeholder. Nobody else stands to lose so much if the company fails to perform. He gets no reward for failure. Yet the FRC persistently ignores this.
