Corporate governance shortcomings, in particular in financial services, were certainly one of the factors behind the financial crisis – though there were others of greater moment, such as the regulation of capital adequacy and liquidity issues. As part of the UK response, Sir David Walker was asked by the Prime Minister to review corporate governance in UK banks and other financial institutions (BOFIs). At the same time, the Financial Reporting Council (FRC) initiated its review of the Combined Code to examine the extent to which the Walker recommendations should apply to all listed companies, despite the different environments in which they operate, which are often removed from the financial markets.
In November 2009, Sir David published his Final Recommendations and a few days later the FRC issued its Final Report on the Code (to be renamed the UK Corporate Governance Code). More recently the FRC published a consultation paper on...