Legal development

AGC Conference 2023

22 November 2023

Welcome to our Ashurst Governance and Compliance (AGC) Conference 2023 supporting page

In order to reduce our environmental impact, slides for the conference and all other supporting materials have only been made available to access online. We have selected other relevant materials for you to browse.

Please do get in touch with the team (see bottom of the page for contact details) should you have any questions on any of the content featured.

Conference materials

Agenda

8.30amRegistration, light breakfast and refreshments

9.00amWelcome introduction

9.05amSustainability disclosures and reporting – what, who and when

Sustainability reporting requirements are evolving rapidly and companies are understandably scrambling to ensure they meet the necessary requirements. Ashurst Corporate Governance Partners Rob Hanley and Florian Drinhausen and Environment and Safety Partner Eleanor Reeves will discuss the latest UK and EU developments, including the current and emerging sustainability requirements, who they apply to and when. The session will also provide practical advice on how to get started with preparing a Transition Plan.

9:45amGovernance, reporting and AGMs in 2024

Ashurst Corporate Governance Partner Will Chalk will provide an update on recent and prospective changes to legislation, regulation and guidance, particularly that which will affect your 2024 annual report. Remuneration and Incentives Senior Associate, Rebecca Servian will provide an update on remuneration trends and guidance impacting 2024 directors' remuneration reporting. They will also look ahead to the 2024 AGM season.

10.30amQuestions

10.45amNetworking and refreshments

11.30amConference close

Speakers

Will Chalk

Will Chalk is a Partner in the Corporate practice at Ashurst. He provides corporate governance and compliance advice to UK listed, AIM and larger private companies. This includes advice on directors' duties, FCA Handbook and AIM Rules requirements, narrative reporting obligations and governance code recommendations. He also provides advice on how boards can respond to the increasingly important ESG agenda, including cyber preparedness. Will spends a lot of his time delivering induction and update training to individual directors, boards, and senior management teams as well as general counsel and company secretaries.

Eleanor Reeves

Eleanor Reeves is a Partner in the Real Estate practice at Ashurst. Eleanor leads our London Environment and Safety practice, advising clients from the public and private sector on a wide range of contentious and non-contentious environmental and safety matters. Her practice includes advising on legal risk management, incident response and crisis management, regulatory obligations and compliance, regulatory investigations and enforcement action including civil and criminal sanctions. In addition, Eleanor regularly works with colleagues across our offices on real estate developments, investments, corporate transactions and projects matters. She is a member of the UK Environmental Law Association.

Rob Hanley

Robert Hanley is a Partner in the Corporate practice at Ashurst, specialising in corporate governance. Rob advises listed and larger private companies on strategic corporate governance matters such as cyber and ESG. He acts as a trusted adviser to our clients’ Chairs, General Counsel and Company Secretaries, providing pragmatic advice and guidance on legal and regulatory requirements as well as current and emerging risks. Rob also advises on a broad range of specialist governance issues such as directors' duties and liabilities, governance structures, conflicts of interest, governance charters and policies and shareholder meetings.

Florian Drinhausen

Prof Dr Florian Drinhausen is a Partner and Head of the Corporate German practice at Ashurst based in Frankfurt. Florian’s area of expertise is Corporate law, Boardroom advice and Cross-Border M&A. He is also a renowned expert on the European Corporation (SE), having advised on numerous SE creations in Germany. Florian has a distinguished career both in private practice and in various in-house roles. From 2014 until joining Ashurst, he held various senior leadership positions with Deutsche Bank, serving from 2018 as Global General Counsel and Chief Governance Officer of Deutsche Bank. During his time at Deutsche Bank, Florian had responsibility for numerous litigation and regulatory investigation matters, including their settlement, AGM, governance, M&A and corporate matters.

Rebecca Servian

Rebecca Servian is a Senior Associate and heads the Incentives practice at Ashurst. She provides advice to UK listed, AIM and private companies on the design and implementation of directors' remuneration policies and in relation to both discretionary executives' incentive arrangements and all-employee share plans. This includes advice on directors' remuneration reporting, FCA remuneration codes and corporate governance code recommendations when reporting on remuneration. She also advises banks and financial institutions on remuneration aspects of financial services regulation. Rebecca works closely with heads of remuneration, reward specialists, general counsel and company secretaries to provide advice on those regulations impacting the operation and development of employees' and directors' share plans.

Slides

Download a copy of the conference slides.

Recording

To watch a recording of the sessions, please click here. You will be prompted to enter your name and email address to watch the recording.

Our insights

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Transition Plan Taskforce issues Disclosure Framework and consults on sector guidance

In this article, find out what the Transition Plan Taskforce (TPT) final Disclosure Framework means for you.

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TNFD makes major development to sustainability reporting landscape

Key takeaways and developments following the TNFD's global recommendations and guidance to provide companies and financial institutions with a risk management and disclosure framework for nature-related risks and opportunities.

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The Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive - An overview

Find out which companies are in scope and when, and what will need to be disclosed.

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The Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive proposal

An overview of the European Commission's proposal for a Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive ("CSDDD") and key takeaways for businesses that potentially come under the CSDDD's scope.

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Disclosures required under the ISSB's Sustainability Disclosure Standards (IFRS S1 and S2)

An update providing more detail on the disclosures required under the new IFRS Sustainability Disclosure Standards (S1 and S2).

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Are Transition Plans at risk of greenwashing claims?

Actions that companies can take to ensure that the disclosures in their TPs do not trigger greenwashing claims.

Ashurst Governance & Compliance updates

Read our latest issue of our AGC series of publications which covers the most recent legal governance and compliance developments.

Join our mailing list

To receive regular Ashurst governance and compliance updates, please join our mailing list by contacting our datamanagementteam@ashurst.com

The information provided is not intended to be a comprehensive review of all developments in the law and practice, or to cover all aspects of those referred to.
Readers should take legal advice before applying it to specific issues or transactions.

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