The Financial Reporting Council has announced changes to its Stewardship Code which will compel investors to account for they way in which they manage conflict of interest issues, and their use of proxy voting agencies.

The changes come on the back of criticism of proxy voting and advisory agencies - which include the likes of Manifest, Pirc and ISS, which itself advises a quarter of shareholders with interests in FTSE-listed groups.

Senior executives have criticised the agencies, saying they are not regulated and unaccountable, on the back of a shareholder spring which saw an unprecedented uprising of investors voting against sharp executive remuneration hikes and director appointments.

The FRC has also asked investors to clearly explain which stewardship activities they've outsourced.

FRC chair, Baroness Hogg, said that the changes were designed to give investors greater insight into what company boards and audit committees are doing to promote their interests, and to provide them with a better basis for engagement.

'The changes to the Stewardship Code are designed to give companies and savers a better understanding of how signatories to the Code are exercising their stewardship responsibilities. We have aimed to keep these revisions to a minimum and change only those elements of the codes where consultation indicated real improvements could be made,' she said.

The updated Code will apply from 1 October 2012.