Responding to plans from the Business and Trade Secretary, Jonathan Reynolds, to simplify corporate reporting rules and cut the amount of paperwork SMEs face, Kate Shoesmith, Director of Policy and Insight at the British Chambers of Commerce said:
“Transparent, accurate reporting is an essential component to making the right investment decisions. We support the measures announced today that will simplify the current system, and thereby reduce the potential for unforced errors and equally, reduce the reporting burden, particularly on SMEs.
“But as we said when the Audit and Corporate Governance Bill was first announced, businesses will want to be assured that this isn’t a stalking horse for over-regulation. If it is to work effectively, there must be clear, accountable enforcement mechanisms to weed out poor practice.
Consideration also has to be given, early, into how this aligns with the EU directive on Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence. They do not need to be directly comparable but if we don’t have clarity, businesses of different sizes and sectors will have divergent and potentially unclear obligations to meet under these different regulatory regimes.”