It’s three years since the Companies Act became law, supposedly ushering in a new era of corporate reporting. But has it changed the culture of communication? Or are old habits inhibiting progress? David Benady reports:

When Peter Kemp attended the Annual General Meeting of a leading quoted company recently, he noticed something rather surprising. Kemp, the managing director of Global3Digital which creates online annual reports for listed companies, was struck by the fact that three quarters of the 500 people attending his client’s AGM were clutching paper copies of the company’s report and accounts. “It was a wake up call. A lot of people out there want their reports in hard copy,” he says.

That wasn’t supposed to happen. Among other things, the Companies Act 2006 introduced new rules allowing businesses to ask shareholders to opt out of receiving printed reports and instead to view them online. Some thought the rule change would sound the death knell of the printed annual report.

But it seems that hasn’t happened. Nearly three years on from the bill receiving Royal Assent, not all of its intended outcomes have come to bear. Meanwhile, the legislation has given rise to other, unforeseen consequences.

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