As we look forward to the New Year, in this December Edition, we present to you some thought pieces in two main areas:
Our first three articles explore how companies and their boards navigate and respond to the challenges and opportunities brought by the current tough economic outlook and trend towards purposeful business. We explore recent decisions on directors' duties, both in relation to the environment and in the context of an approaching insolvency, and how one company has put nature on its board.
The second three articles look at transparency of ownership of corporate structures, where some differences are arising with the EU, post Brexit. On the one hand, the UK is implementing significant reforms to our system of public corporate transparency of UK companies and has implemented public disclosure of owners of overseas companies holding UK land. The aim is to combat economic crime and other abuse of public registers. On the other hand, a recent decision in Europe has upheld a need for proportionality in the approach to disclosure to the public at large of beneficial ownership of companies, given an individual's fundamental right to privacy.