Corporate Governance

AIM Corporate Governance is proven to be important for investors and the share price.

73% of AIM investors agree that good corporate governance is increasingly important.

FTSE AIM 100 companies that had a majority of Non-Executive Directors on their board saw their share price increase by an average of 22% per annum between 2010 and 2013.

Across the board, an increasing number of companies follow the QCA Corporate Governance Code over the FRC’s UK Corporate Governance Code.

Requirements

As an AIM company it is a responsibility to adopt corporate governance measures as appropriate for the business.

The company must disclose on the company’s website which corporate governance code it has adopted and detail how it is applied
UK Corporate Governance Code / QCA Corporate Governance Code considered as best practice but not a requirement.

Areas of good disclosure

Description and work of each board committee and its role
Information about the identity and suitability of executive and non-executive directors and their committee membership
Responsibilities and accountability of each committee.

Areas requiring further focus

Evaluation of how procedures have evolved from previous years and the action taken
Lack of clear articulation of how the company’s corporate governance structures and behaviour support the long-term strategy and success of the company
Reasons explaining why a non-executive director is considered to be independent
Investors feared a potential conflict where the company secretary was also a director.

AIM NOTICES

For details of the latest AIM Regulatory notices, corporate governance and updates to the AIM Rules.

Click Here for latest AIM notices

Sources: London Stock Exchange. Data taken from Baker Tilly “Taking AIM Report 2012 and 2013”, Practical Law Company “Corporate Governance Analysis”, Edward Drummond & Co research, “QCA & UHY Hacker Young Corporate Governance Report 2013.