Research Services - Assessing engagement with shareholders and reporting following significant votes against a resolution

***THIS OPPORTUNITY IS CLOSED. THIS IS A CONTRACT AWARD NOTICE***

The Financial Reporting Council (FRC) regulates auditors, accountants and actuaries and sets the UK's Corporate Governance and Stewardship Codes. We seek to promote transparency and integrity in business; our work is aimed at investors and others who rely on company accounts, audit and high-quality risk management. As the Competent Authority for audit in the UK, the FRC sets auditing and ethical standards and monitors and enforces audit quality. This project concerns shareholder votes of 20% or more against resolutions at company Annual General Meetings (AGMs). We are interested in how such votes are reported and the level, and quality, of engagement that subsequently takes place between company boards and investors.

The aim of the research project was to assess:

• The level and quality of companies' reporting against Provision 4 of the Corporate Governance Code and the usefulness of this reporting to shareholders. • The level and quality of engagement between companies and their shareholders following a vote of 20% or more against a proposed resolution. • How this engagement has impacted companies' subsequent actions and subsequent shareholder stewardship, including engagement and voting.

The research project supports the work of the Corporate Governance and Stewardship team in the FRC, as well as the broader aims of the FRC, to understand and promote good governance and best practice. The output from the research may be used in an FRC publication(s) and where this is the case the contribution of the contracted research team will be cited and acknowledged appropriately.

Scope of the Project

The research includes all companies that were constituents of the FTSE 350 index on 1 January 2019 and will cover all AGMs of those companies in 2019, 2020 and 2021.

Approach The data for this research is available from the following sources: • The Investment Association's public register • Companies' AGM notices • Companies' statements/updates/announcements (including those of AGM voting results) • Companies' annual reports • Other information sources (e.g. media coverage, stock exchange announcements, stewardship reports, dialogue with IA, etc).

The successful bid established the criteria/scale to reliably assess: • Quality of reporting by companies in the areas listed • Quality of engagement between companies and shareholders These criteria should allow for comparisons between companies and between time periods (within the scope of the research sample).

Additional information: THIS OPPORTUNITY IS CLOSED. THIS IS A CONTRACT AWARD NOTICE.