In the first research into the use of the Wates rules, the Financial Reporting Council (FRC) commissioned a report from the University of Essex focusing on the quality of reporting.

The FRC report stated: ‘Disclosure practices are still in their infancy. This report has shown there is a wide variety of disclosure practices and has also highlighted that, while there were some companies that did report specific information, most of them limited their disclosures to generic statements about their corporate governance arrangements in relation to the six Principles.

‘This could indicate that companies are still in a learning phase, and they may be developing their disclosure practice as their corporate governance arrangements evolve.’

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