• Top Story | Corporate governance stocktake: The AFR reports AMP Chair David Murray has questioned the role and efficacy of the ASX Corporate Governance Principles and Recommendations (and proposed amendments to them) in raising governance standards, and has said that AMP will not be adopting them sparking a broader governance debate.
• AICD NFP Governance and Performance Study 2018 released: NFP boards have increased their focus on culture since the last survey but are insufficiently focussed on cyber risk, and divided on the role of the board in driving innovation according to the report.
• In Brief | The trend towards companies appointing a board level 'Head of Integrity' (usually following a scandal) does not (and should not?) absolve the board from responsibility and does not necessarily lead to better outcomes argues The FT.
• In Brief | Telstra leadership changes: Telstra CEO Andy Penn has announced a restructure of the executive ranks, including the departure of four senior leaders. Commenting on the change Mr Penn said: 'our new organisational structure and operating model are designed to remove complexity and management layers, decrease the focus on hierarchical decision making and increase the focus on empowered teams making decisions closer to the customer'.

• New research confirms that the diversity of the broader Australian population is not represented on ASX100 boards: Beyond the pale: Cultural diversity on ASX 100 Boards July 2018.
• Singapore | Is regular and highly publicised reporting the key to progress on gender balance? Female board representation in SGX 100 is up 20% in 12 months as end of June 2018.
• In Brief | The FT reports that the UK BEIS Committee has called for the extension of gender pay gap reporting requirements to companies with more than 50 employees and for reporting on plans for tackling gender disparities. The call is reportedly based on the fact that the latest data pay gaps are highest in smaller companies.
• In Brief | Female board representation is not a priority? The Guardian reports that a number of UK company executives have told a House of Commons Committee that shareholders are more concerned about environmental issues than promoting women to senior positions in boardrooms and some remain unconvinced of the need/benefits of female board representation.
• In Brief | 'It's our job to incentivise the market' says the vice-president of supply for BHP Minerals in Australia: BHP is reportedly pushing heavy machinery suppliers to rethink design in line with the needs of a more diverse workforce. The company is also reportedly pushing its labour hire providers to ensure 30% or more of candidates for roles are women.
• In Brief | New Tigerair CEO Merren McArthur (Australia's only female airline CEO) has reportedly used a key address at the annual Centre for Aviation conference to highlight the lack of diversity (ethnicity, age, culture and gender) as a risk for the industry. 'We tend to see aviation as so unique and special, it can only be run by aviation industry veterans…This insularity could mean aviation is missing out on what the industry has previously been renowned for — leading edge innovation she is quoted as saying.

• In Brief | South Korea's National Pension Service (South Korea's leading institutional investor with US$570 billion under its control) has reportedly adopted the new investment stewardship code. Health and Welfare Minister Park Neung-hoo has reportedly said that the adoption of the code is intended to boost transparency of its voting rights in companies where it has a stake: 'We are introducing the stewardship code to strengthen transparency and independence of our voting rights, and to improve the NPS' long-term profits' he is quoted as saying.

• United States | SEC has announced that it will hold a 'roundtable' to hear stakeholder views on the need (or otherwise) for the refinement of existing proxy rules. Separately, The Shareholder Rights group has put forward proposals for the improvement of SEC’s approach on shareholder proposals under the SEC no-action process.

• United Kingdom | The FRC has issued revised guidance on the integration of non-financial information into the strategic report. The guidance encourages companies to consider wider stakeholders and broader matters that impact performance over the longer term.

Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC)

• ASIC has issued new and updated guidance for the funds management industry to reflect changes arising from the Asia Region Funds Passport.
• In Brief | From 1 July 2019 the government will reduce and remove the fees for accessing certain information from ASIC business registries. Existing search fees of $40 will be cut to $19 to reduce the burden on individuals and businesses that need to access company roles and relationship extracts from the online registries. The government will also extend the fee exemption that is currently available to some journalists for certain registry searches, to all journalists, for all registry searches.
• In Brief | ASIC Report 583: Review of Exchange traded products and retail investors has found that the Australian ETP market is 'generally functioning well' and delivering promises to investors but there are potential risks that require monitoring by issuers and oversight by market operators.
• In Brief | ASIC has announced changes to reporting dates for certain required notifications in the transition to the new financial adviser professional standards reforms and has clarified the process for recognising advisers as 'existing providers'.

Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA)

• APRA is reportedly conducting a climate risk survey of regulated institutions.
• APRA has released the final two short topic papers on insurance in superannuation and member flows and products as part of its review of the superannuation prudential framework.
• In Brief | APRA has released its response to industry feedback on the proposed replacement of Direct to APRA (D2A) with a new Data Collection Solution. A second phase of industry engagement is now underway to help finalise the choice of the system and the transition and roll-out plan. APRA intends to finalise the design of the new Data Collection Solution this year. The roll-out and transition period is expected to start in the first quarter of 2020.
• In Brief | APRA has released monthly banking statistics for June 2018.

Other Developments

• United Kingdom | The FCA will take no action against RBS following an investigation into its treatment of business customers.
• In Brief | SEC needs to take a collaborative approach to oversight of the cryptocurrency market? SEC Senior Advisor for Digital Assets and Innovation Valerie Szczepanik has reportedly said that the regulator's less confrontational approach to overseeing the cryptocurrency market, is necessary to ensure cooperation. 'We want people to come talk to us…When I'm in meetings with folks, I want them to see me as someone who's interested in communication and back and forth, and looking to encourage innovation that helps investors and the markets' she said.

Superannuation

• Time to adopt APRA and PC recommendations for raising governance standards in the superannuation sector (or not)? AICD managing director and CEO Angus Armour has argued in favour of adopting an 'enhanced set of mandatory governance practices for the superannuation sector'.
• APRA’s submission in response to the PC Draft Report into the competition and effectiveness of the superannuation sector rejects the view that current regulatory arrangements are ‘confusing or opaque’.
• In Brief | The Superannuation Complaints Tribunal's latest newsletter has provided an update on preparations for the transition to the Australian Financial Complaints Authority (AFCA) transition, and has cautioned that it anticipates an escalation in the number of enquiries and complaints following the Financial Services Royal Commission hearings into Superannuation (commencing 6 August).

Other Developments

• Top Story | Final PC Report into competition in the Australian Financial System released. The report found there is a lack of competition in the sector and recommends (among other things) that the ACCC be mandated as competition champion.
• Top Story | ASIC has approved the Australian Banking Association’s (ABA’s) new Banking Code of Practice (the Code).
• United States | Wells Fargo has agreed to Pay a $2.09bn penalty for allegedly misrepresenting the quality of loans used in residential mortgage-backed securities.
• An Australian Yukom? The age reports that ASIC has succeeded in securing freezing orders over nearly $18m in investor money after alleging AGM Markets, OT Markets and Ozfin ran an unlicensed business that allegedly employed high pressure sales techniques to ‘lure’ investors to deposit funds on the promise of bonus payments.
• APRA has released its annual Private Health Insurance annual coverage survey for December 2017: Overall there were decreases in hospital treatment membership across younger age groups and increases across older age groups in the year to December 2017.
• In Brief | A clear drop in client trust? The 'clear trust deficit' between clients and the financial services sector is worsening, according to joint research from Deloitte Digital and Salesforce. According to the report, only 1 in 3 customers believe that the financial services industry can be trusted. This is attributed to a number of factors including: the Financial Services Royal Commission exposing significant failures of providers, rising customer expectations, technological advancements and new competition.
• In Brief | Is ASIC's push for the removal of grandfathered commissions an overreaction? Reportedly, Association of Financial Advisers (AFA) head of policy, Phil Andersen has questioned the factual basis for ASIC's argument for the removal of grandfathered commissions on the basis that in his assessment, they constitute little of the overall income of financial advice practices.

• In Brief | Is ASIC's tough stance on auditing firms leading to a 'tick the box' culture? Academics suggest that ASIC's enforcement style has shifted from being more collaborative to being more coercive and in response, firms are adapting their audit process in ways aimed at minimising inspection risk and not necessarily at improving audit quality. 'There is an accusation by the auditors – which ASIC denies – that it is almost as if the regulator needs to keep finding something wrong every month or every year' Professor Moroney is quoted as stating.
• In Brief | The UK FRC has announced the closure of its investigation into Grant Thornton UK’s audits of Globo Plc. The investigation commenced in December 2015 one month after the company had gone into administration and focused on GTUK’s group audit (specifically, its direction, supervision and performance of the group audit engagement). The FRC writes that following consideration; Executive Counsel concluded that 'there was no realistic prospect of a finding of Misconduct' and that the matter would be closed without further action.

Supply Chain Risk

• Second only to homicide in terms of the cost to UK society? The UK government has commissioned an independent review of the Modern Slavery Act 2015 after the release of a report into the social and economic cost.

Cybersecurity

• Notifiable data breaches update | Cyber attacks are the largest source of data breaches, and the health sector reported the largest number of breaches, according to the latest OAIC report.
• The case for 'algorithmic accountability': Is publishing the algorithms behind AI applications a solution for all forms and uses of AI?

Whistleblowing

• In Brief | The US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has announced multiple whistleblower awards totaling more than $45 million. CFTC Director of the Division of Enforcement said that the awards demonstrate the growing success of the CFTC’s Whistleblower Program, in particular the increasing volume and complexity of incoming whistleblower submissions and added that he expects 'this trend to continue as the Commission continues to receive increasing numbers of high-quality whistleblower tips'.

Other Developments

• #Metoo allegations against CBS Chair and CEO and more general allegations against the company have reportedly led to an immediate share price drop?

• Progress update on constitutional recognition for Indigenous Australians | The Joint Select Committee on Constitutional Recognition Relation to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples has released its interim report and called for submissions on the proposed models and principles put forward. Submissions close 17 September.