While there is widespread awareness of the importance of ethical issues, with almost all (94%) the FTSE 100 alluding to ethical values as part of the narrative of their annual reports, the proportion providing shareholders with this specific information is down slightly on the previous year, when 23% of FTSE 100 companies did so.

The institute says shareholders are keen to see monitoring and reporting of ethical performance, because it is a valuable indicator of a company’s oversight of key risks affecting overall financial performance. It also provides a vital gauge of whether corporate social responsibility (CSR) values are being upheld.

However, its research suggests that when mentioning their commitment to ethics, clear explanation and specific detail of what this means in practice are often lacking, with many companies continuing to use vague terminology, such as simply referring to their ‘integrity’ or ‘values’.

Ian Peters, IIA’s chief executive, said: ‘FTSE 100 companies are clearly aware of the need to address ethics as an issue, but there’s still very little assurance that this is translating into meaningful, targeted action.’

Examples of good practice include BAE Systems, which reported that the company had received 1,148 ethics queries via its ethics officer network and helpline. GlaxoSmithKline, meanwhile, stated 99.9% of employees completed training on the company code of conduct.

Peters said: ‘Calls for greater transparency on large corporates’ ethical performance are only going to get louder.

‘Major corporates, particularly those with multinational interests and global supply chains, need to be seen to be taking the lead and mitigating risks, as issues such as working conditions, modern slavery, corruption, fair trade and environmental concerns continue to loom large.’