Corporate Governance and Financial Regulation

Individual Essay (2000 words)

The development of corporate governance has been driven largely by the desire for more transparency and accountability to help restore investor confidence in the worlds stock markets after the damage caused by financial scandals and corporate collapses. Local and international press have continued to attribute financial scandals to the lack of adequate corporate governance mechanisms and that in many cases corporate governance practices do not appear to have dfirect impact on corporate performance.

You are required to:

1.Choose two (2) publicly quoted companies on the London Stock Exchange (from the list in Appendix 2). The two companies MUST belong to same industrial sector, e.g. retail, banking, etc.
2.Download the companies annual reports, press releases, corporate governance and social responsibility reports, performance related publications, etc. for the past five (5) years. Put this information/data in the appendix section of your report. The appendix section does not form part of your word count
3.Compare and contrast corporate governance mechanisms adopted by your the two companies chosen over the past five (5) financial years. You should write an essay detailing the level of compliance to UK Corporate Governance Codes by your two (2) companies. Where appropriate references can be made to other international corporate governance frameworks (e.g. Europe, OECD, USA, etc.). Support your arguments with the appropriate sections of the Companies Act or any relevant rules you have used.
4.Your essay should be a comparative analysis of Corporate Governance practices over the past five (5) financial years (e.g. 2011 – 2015). Your essay should state where there is weak (or effective) corporate governance compliance and why.
5.Your essay should also show whether corporate governance mechanisms and corporate social responsibility practices are more evident in better performing companies.