• UK Report calls for regulators to be empowered to hold directors to account for corporate purpose

• Tying incentives to reputation: Woolworths to introduces 20% reputation metric into LTI

• South32 board endorses ACCR climate-lobbying resolution
• Majority vote: A majority of AGL shareholders have backed a shareholder Paris-targets resolution against the board's recommendation

• IGCC calls on the Federal government to commit to net zero by 2050 and to mandate 'best practice' climate disclosure
• $10trn coalition of investors calls on governments to act on biodiversity loss
• In Brief | Failing to walk the talk on climate? Think Tank Universal Owner has issued a report questioning whether Vanguard is living up to its stated climate commitments or role as a 'universal owner'

• Still work to do: ASX300 has cracked the 30% female board representation target (but not every individual board)
• In Brief | A comparative study of  'comply or explain' vs a prescriptive approaches to board diversity concludes that though the imposition of mandatory quotas achieves quick results, a more flexible, 'comply or explain' approach is effective (if slower) in achieving increased representation, while also mitigating some of the compliance costs associated with rules based approaches

• H1 2021 saw a spike in the level of support for shareholder HCM proposals at Russell 3000 companies
• Review of the 2021 US Proxy season: COVID sharpened investor focus on ESG, and in particular focus on DEI issues

• UK regulator releases guidance to address greenwashing, puts firms on notice that it will launch a compliance review in 2022
• Ahead of the release of its planned mandatory climate risk disclosure rule, SEC has highlighted gaps in climate-related disclosure
• SASB standards continue to gain traction: More than half of the S&P 500 now use the standards in their external communications to investors
• Keeping pace with developments: The FRC has released FAQs on global sustainability standards setting

• Top Story | APRA confirms Q4 policy priorities

• Status update: Tracking progress against each of the Hayne Commission's 76 recommendations
• Hayne Implementation: ASIC has released guidance (RG 38) on hawking reforms due to commence 5 October
• Consultation: Draft legislation to establish a retirement income covenant released for consultation
• ASIC is monitoring the rise in 'pump and dump' activity, the regulator has called on market participants to 'take active steps' to identify and stop potential misconduct
• APRA is consulting on proposed changes to SPS530 Investment Governance
• In Brief | In light of ongoing COVID-19 disruption, APRA has released updated frequently asked questions for private health insurers on the application of the capital framework for COVID-19 related disruptions.  The FAQs replace the version issued in March 2021

Cybersecurity, Technology and Privacy

• Top Story | Unmasking Financial Services' IT costs in M&A
• ACCC says phone scams are 'exploding': losses reported to Scamwatch top $211m

Climate

• China says it will not build any new coal fired power projects abroad
• Quad Summit affirms commitment to limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees
• In Brief | The SMH reports that Norway's Labor Party is set to push Norges Bank Investment Management which owns 1.5% of the world's stocks, to commit to achieving net zero emissions across its portfolio by 2050
• In Brief | ISO commits to integrating climate considerations into all future standards to accelerate the achievement of climate goals: The London Declaration commits signatories to embed climate considerations into every new standard that is created and to retrospectively add these requirements into existing standards as they are revised

Other Developments

• AHRC report identifies significant gaps in corporate accountability for human rights impacts