Belgian companies do better on code compliance

Belgian companies are getting better at complying with the code of corporate governance. The Financial Services and Markets Authority said it was "delighted" with the progress, but don't get too excited. Its study indicated that a number of the code's provisions weren't being followed, which is a matter of concern as the country brings into force a new law requiring compliance, that is on a "comply-or-explain" basis. Improvements since 2009 include:

• Risk: Some 92 per cent of companies now have and apply internal control and risk management systems. The figures were less than half two years ago.
  
• Evaluation: Information on the evaluation process is complied with by 53 per cent and applied by 66 per cent of the companies. Those are up from 30 and 36 per cent respectively in the previous study.

More companies are reporting on executive pay and setting remuneration policies, too. Some 81 per cent of companies give information of share options, up from 61 per cent.

Source document: The FSMA news release summarises the findings.