Do not simply tick the box: the effectiveness of the Corporate Governance Code 2018 in the absence of an implementation mechanism

This paper analyses the UK Corporate Governance Code 2018 vis-a-vis its predecessors with a view to determining its effect on corporate governance in the UK in the light of recent corporate failures in the country. The theme of the paper is that while the concise nature of the Code and the Financial Reporting Council's (FRC) caution for companies to avoid the tick-box approach have the potential to reduce corporate box-ticking thereby making the application of the Principles more effective, the absence of an enforcement mechanism still puts its overall effectiveness in doubt. The paper, however, concludes that the proposal to replace the FRC with a new body giving it enforcement powers is a step in the right direction and that this strengthens rather than threatens the shareholder primacy position of British corporate governance