Corporate governance for large private companies: a flexible framework

The final form Wates Corporate Governance Principles for Large Private Companies (the Wates Principles) have been published by the working group chaired by James Wates CBE. The government asked the working group to develop a set of corporate governance principles for large private companies as part of the package of measures to improve the UK’s corporate governance framework. 

The Wates Principles will be of particular interest for those large privately owned companies which are required, for financial years beginning on or after 1 January 2019, to produce a statement of their corporate governance arrangements. However, as stated in the introduction to the Wates Principles, the working group hopes that a wider range of companies will adopt the Wates Principles, as they offer companies that are not directly subject to the UK Corporate Governance Code (the Code) an opportunity to demonstrate good corporate governance practice and how they achieve the long-term sustainable success of the company. 

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This article first appeared in the January/February 2019 issue of PLC Magazine, published by Practical Law, part of Thomson Reuters (Professional) UK Limited, and is reproduced by agreement with the publishers.