TUC to back corporate probe

TUC General Secretary Frances O’Grady has backed a Commons probe into corporate governance which will focus on excessive executive pay and the make-up of boardrooms.

The move by the business, innovation, and skills (BIS) select committee, came after the TUC published evidence that the pay of directors at FTSE 100 firms has reached “stratospheric” levels.
Mrs O’Grady said: said: “Poor corporate governance contributes not only to high profile corporate disasters such as BHS, but also to short-termism and excessive executive pay across much of the private sector. This inquiry is important and timely and the TUC welcomes the opportunity to contribute to the Committee’s discussions.”
The inquiry will also look worker representation and executive gender balance, and will build on recent probes into BHS and Sports Direct. It will also hold premier Theresa May to promises to overhaul corporate governance.
Committee chair Iain Wright said: “Irresponsible business behaviour and poor corporate governance act against the interests of workers, and as a brake on long-term prosperity and profit­ab­ility in companies, as well as tarnishing the reputation of business and undermining public trust in enterprise.
“We need to look at laws on bus­iness and how they are enforced. Good corporate governance shouldn’t be a hin­drance; it can contribute to com­pan­ies’ long-term prosperity and per­­form- ­ance as well as showing the world that a business is responsible, thereby contributing to investor confidence”.