Call to outlaw sexism at annual meetings

THE UK’s overseer of corporate governance is investigating ways to tackle unruly behaviour at annual meetings after Aviva boss Amanda Blanc was heckled this month.

The Financial Reporting Council (FRC) has been working behind the scenes for a year on guidelines slated to come out in July.

The way companies run annual general meetings has come under fire after some Aviva shareholders told Blanc she was not the ‘man’ for the job. She has since called for change.

Sources said the regulator is now urgently canvassing its stakeholders and lobby groups. Guidelines could include a recommendation that firms state in AGM notices that misogyny is punishable.

Peter Parry, director at the UK Shareholders Association, is in talks with the FRC. He said: ‘These new guidelines are long overdue. I think there will be a greater need for chairs to take a firm line in the way questions are managed.’