Boardroom Brief: Week commencing 4 December 2023

This is a service specifically targeted at the needs of busy non-executive directors (NEDs). We aim to give you a ‘heads up’ on the things that matter for NEDs in the week ahead - all in two minutes or less. In this edition, we discuss the joint report published by the Australian Accounting Standards Board (AASB) and the Auditing and Assurance Standards Board (AUASB) on trends in climate-related disclosures by entities listed on the ASX, and the report published by the Governance Institute of Australia (GIA) in relation to data governance by Australian organisations. We also examine the $12 million penalty imposed on Mercer Financial Advice (Australia) Pty Ltd (Mercer) for fee disclosure failures and misleading representations. In Over the Horizon, we take a look at the rejection of the proposed acquisition of Origin Energy Limited (ASX: ORG) (Origin) by way of a scheme of arrangement and discuss the challenges of public M&A transactions where the interests of a substantial shareholder may not align with the target’s board.