The main objective is to reduce the current reporting requirements and make the non-mandatory rules more proportionate, the FRC said. It is part of the regulator’s attempts to reduce corporate reporting burdens for signatories and ensure a clearer focus on the purpose of stewardship and the outcomes that it delivers.

When it comes into effect in 2026, the revised Code will continue to operate on an ‘apply or explain’ basis, allowing companies flexibility in how they report against the framework.

There will also be an important change to the definition of stewardship to clarify that ‘the primary purpose of stewardship is to support delivering financial returns for clients and beneficiaries, while acknowledging that in doing so there may be positive benefits for the economy, the environment and society’.

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