The future of reporting
In 2026, the UK Government is launching an ambitious ‘Modernisation of Corporate Reporting’ review, to make the UK’s reporting regime “the most streamlined and proportionate in the world”. We’ve contributed to their thinking with our own new model for corporate reporting for the age of AI, and are organising corporate stakeholder engagement sessions in partnership with the Chartered Governance Institute to gather feedback for the Department for Business and Trade, who are running the programme. Please get in touch to take part.
Take part | Download the model | Watch the webinar
Our model in summary
Our new model* for corporate reporting for the age of AI has four key points.
Codify the purpose of corporate reporting overall; and within that, the purpose of the annual report for different types of company.
Mandate that only material information should be included in the annual report, with materiality being determined by the purpose of the annual report for that type of company, and the needs of the principal stakeholder to whom it is reporting.
Mandate that the annual report should have two parts, disclosures (statements plus notes) and commentary, with guidelines on how to use AI in both cases. In essence, this takes the principle of today’s relationship between the financial statements/notes and their commentary (the results statement, usually included in the strategic report under the heading ‘financial review’), and applies it to all material disclosures and their commentary.
Mandate a dedicated section of the corporate website in the top-level navigation – ‘Reports and disclosures’ – where companies publish, in three clearly marked subsections: the annual report; other mandatory disclosures; and voluntary disclosures.
We understand that the DBT’s thinking on the digital aspects of the review has been informed by our AI research and recommendations, ‘Your Precious Intern – How to use generative AI responsibly in corporate reporting’, which you can find here.
Read the full paper here.
* While our focus is on listed companies, since we have most experience here, the principles would apply equally well to any type of company required to report.
About the Modernisation of Corporate Reporting review
Here’s a reminder of what the MCR is all about. Last year, the UK Government revisited its Non-Financial Reporting Review and consulted widely (including interviewing Claire Bodanis) on how to improve corporate reporting.
To quote their October email to stakeholders, “Throughout our engagement, it became apparent that the issues with the [reporting] framework went beyond non-financial reporting. Therefore, we are expanding the scope to include financial, remuneration, and governance reporting, as well as considering how reporting can be modernised in the digital age.”
The reason for all this is that the UK Government’s growth agenda relies on London regenerating itself as a centre for capital and the UK attracting inward investment. And many see deregulation – or at least the simplification of regulation – as a necessary backdrop for growth.
To quote Blair McDougall MP, Minister for Small Business and Economic Transformation, in his letter (dropping the plans for audit reform!) to the Chair of the Business and Trade Committee in January: “We want to make the UK’s reporting regime the most streamlined and proportionate in the world, and will launch an ambitious consultation this year to co-design these changes with companies and investors.”
You can find the Government’s October announcement here.