![Global rules on foreign direct investment](https://www.nortonrosefulbright.com/-/media/images/nrf/nrfweb/knowledge/publications/us_24355_legal-update--fdi-alert.jpeg?w=265&revision=a5124a65-abf9-40e4-8e96-9df39ffdb212&revision=5250068427347387904&hash=96B456347C3246E5649838DF281C5F5D)
Publication
Global rules on foreign direct investment (FDI)
Cross-border acquisitions and investments increasingly trigger foreign direct investment (FDI) screening requirements.
United Kingdom | Publication | October 2020
On October 14, 2020 the Financial Reporting Council’s Financial Reporting Lab published a short document setting out tips for companies on how to make their Section 172 Companies Act 2006 statement (a statement in the annual report that describes how the directors had regard to the specified factors in Section 172(1) when performing their duty under Section 172 to promote the company’s success) a tool that provides better insight and more accountability. The tips are also aimed at helping companies consider what content to include in such a statement, how to present it, and how to facilitate the preparation process.
Tips in this area are as follows:
Tips in this area are as follows:
Tips in this area are as follows:
On October 15, 2020 the Financial Reporting Council’s Financial Reporting Lab published a report which looks at recent reporting practice in relation to going concern, risk and viability. This was previously looked at in a report on the subject published in June 2020 which looked at the limited reporting practice on this that had developed by then. This new report looks at how reporting has evolved in this area since then and it provides examples of more recent practice.
In relation to each of the areas of going concern and viability, and risk reporting, the report looks back at key messages from earlier Lab reports. It then provides an update on recent developments in corporate reporting in these areas and provides practical examples from reports and presentations released since June 2020. In addition, the report provides ideas on how it expects disclosure to evolve in these areas going forward.
On October 15, 2020 the Financial Reporting Council’s Financial Reporting Lab published a report which looks at recent reporting practice in relation to the areas of resources, action and the future. This was previously looked at in a report on the subject published in June 2020 which looked at the limited reporting practice on this that had developed by then. This new report looks at how reporting has evolved in this area since then and it provides examples of more recent practice.
In relation to each of the three themes of resources, actions and the future and the key questions around these highlighted in the June 2020 report, this new report looks back at key messages from earlier Lab reports. It then provides an update on recent developments in corporate reporting in these areas and provides practical examples from reports and presentations released since June 2020. In addition, the report provides ideas on how it expects disclosure to evolve in these areas going forward.
On October 9, 2020 the Investment Association issued a press release calling for greater transparency on ethnic diversity on boards, noting that almost three-quarters of FTSE 100 companies failed to report the ethnic make-up of their boards this year in their annual reports, despite investors requesting that information alongside gender diversity reporting.
The press release notes that the Parker Review recommended that FTSE 100 companies have at least one director from ethnic minorities by 2021 and comments that the lack of reporting on this means investors cannot assess progress. It also notes that investors want companies to state both whether they meet the Parker Review targets and to disclose the percentage of the board with an ethnic minority background.
On October 14, 2020 Institutional Shareholder Services Inc (ISS) announced the launch of a consultation on its proposed changes to its annual benchmark voting policies, including some proposed changes to its voting policies for the UK and Ireland.
The key proposed changes to the ISS voting policy for the UK and Ireland are as follows:
Comments are requested by October 26, 2020. The policy changes will be announced in November 2020 and will be applied to company meetings taking place on or after February 1, 2021.
(ISS, Proposed Benchmark Voting Policy Changes for 2021 – Consultation, 14.10.2020)
Publication
Cross-border acquisitions and investments increasingly trigger foreign direct investment (FDI) screening requirements.
Publication
On February 2, 2024, the Belgian Presidency of the Council of the European Union confirmed that the Committee of Permanent Representatives had signed the Artificial Intelligence (AI) Regulation, referred to as the AI Act. Approval by the EU Parliament followed on 13 March 2024, and the AI Act is likely to appear in the EU’s Official Journal around May 2024. The AI Act aims to establish a stringent legal framework governing the development, marketing, and utilisation of artificial intelligence within the region, thereby marking a significant advancement in the regulation of this burgeoning domain.
Publication
The EU’s Artificial Intelligence Regulation, commonly referred to as the AI Act, is expected to come into force during the summer of 2024 (the AI Act). The AI Act will be the first comprehensive legal framework for the use and development of artificial intelligence (AI), and is intended to ensure that AI systems developed and used in the EU are safe, transparent, traceable, non-discriminatory and environmentally friendly.
Subscribe and stay up to date with the latest legal news, information and events . . .
© Norton Rose Fulbright LLP 2023