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A typology for exploring the quality of explanations for non-compliance with UK corporate governance regulations

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  • Shrives, Philip J.
  • Brennan, Niamh M.

Abstract

Companies not complying with the UK Corporate Governance Code are required to provide explanations for non-compliance. This is the capstone of the ‘comply-or-explain’ system. There are no regulations about the content of those explanations, leaving shareholders and others to judge their appropriateness. The study develops a typology to assess the quality of corporate governance explanations for non-compliance of UK FTSE 350 companies based on seven quality characteristics. Code breaches generating the non-compliance explanations for analysis are identified for two accounting periods (2004/5 and 2011/12) relating to the 2003 and 2010 Codes (data for 2011/12 in brackets).

Suggested Citation

  • Shrives, Philip J. & Brennan, Niamh M., 2015. "A typology for exploring the quality of explanations for non-compliance with UK corporate governance regulations," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 47(1), pages 85-99.
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:bracre:v:47:y:2015:i:1:p:85-99
    DOI: 10.1016/j.bar.2014.08.002
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    2. Maria Aluchna & Tomasz Kuszewski, 2020. "Does Corporate Governance Compliance Increase Company Value? Evidence from the Best Practice of the Board," JRFM, MDPI, vol. 13(10), pages 1-21, October.
    3. Franklin Nakpodia & Emmanuel Adegbite & Kenneth Amaeshi & Akintola Owolabi, 2018. "Neither Principles Nor Rules: Making Corporate Governance Work in Sub-Saharan Africa," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 151(2), pages 391-408, August.
    4. Areneke, Geofry & Adegbite, Emmanuel & Tunyi, Abongeh, 2022. "Transfer of corporate governance practices into weak emerging market environments by foreign institutional investors," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 31(5).
    5. Leona Achtenhagen & Petra Inwinkl & Jacob Björktorp & Robert Källenius, 2018. "More than two decades after the Cadbury Report: How far has Sweden, as role model for corporate-governance practices, come?," International Journal of Disclosure and Governance, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 15(4), pages 235-251, November.
    6. John Roberts & Paul Sanderson & David Seidl & Antonije Krivokapic, 2020. "The UK Corporate Governance Code Principle of ‘Comply or Explain’: Understanding Code Compliance as ‘Subjection’," Abacus, Accounting Foundation, University of Sydney, vol. 56(4), pages 602-626, December.
    7. Daniela Venanzi, 2023. "La corporate governance delle banche italiane: e' tutto oro quello che luccica? (Corporate governance of Italian banks: not all that glitters is gold)," Moneta e Credito, Economia civile, vol. 76(302), pages 113-132.
    8. Rose, Caspar, 2016. "Firm performance and comply or explain disclosure in corporate governance," European Management Journal, Elsevier, vol. 34(3), pages 202-222.
    9. Maria Aluchna & Tomasz Kuszewski, 2022. "Responses to corporate governance code: evidence from a longitudinal study," Review of Managerial Science, Springer, vol. 16(6), pages 1945-1978, August.
    10. Peter J Baldacchino & Claire Vella & Simon Grima, 2019. "The Corporate Governance Code and Compliance by Maltese Listed Companies," International Journal of Economics & Business Administration (IJEBA), International Journal of Economics & Business Administration (IJEBA), vol. 0(2), pages 71-90.
    11. Shrives, Philip J. & Brennan, Niamh M., 2017. "Explanations for corporate governance non-compliance: A rhetorical analysis," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 49(C), pages 31-56.
    12. Brennan, Niamh M. & Edgar, Victoria C. & Power, Sean Bradley, 2022. "COVID-19 profit warnings: Delivering bad news in a time of crisis," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 54(2).

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