New UK Stewardship Code 2026 published

On 3 June 2025 the Financial Reporting Council (FRC) announced the publication of the UK Stewardship Code 2026 (Code).

The UK Stewardship Code is voluntary and as at June 2025 has nearly 300 signatories representing around £50 trillion in assets under management. The Code sets out various “apply and explain” Principles for asset managers and asset owners and a separate set of Principles for service providers.

The Code will replace the UK Stewardship Code 2020 and will be effective from 1 January 2026. That said, 2026 will be a transition year meaning that no existing signatories will be removed from the signatory list following their 2026 application.

The FRC have also published “UK Stewardship Code 2026 – at a glance”, a helpful four page summary, but the key features include:

• An enhanced definition of stewardship as the creation of long-term sustainable value for clients and beneficiaries
• Fewer Principles and shorter “how to report” prompts, with an anticipated 20-30% reduction in reporting volume whilst maintaining quality
• Dedicated Principles for different types of signatories
• Flexible reporting structure so signatories may prepare separate Policy and Context Disclosures and Activities and Outcomes Reports or combine them into a single document

Alongside the publication of the Code, the FRC have released optional Guidance in draft form. This is designed to support effective implementation of the Code and is due to be finalised in Autumn 2025. The FRC invites comments on the draft Guidance to be sent to [email protected] before 31 August 2025.

Further, the FRC are hosting a webinar about the Code at 3pm on Wednesday 18 June 2025. You can register your place at the webinar here.

For further information about the Code or any of the points raised in this article, please contact Nick Graves (Head of the Corporate Department), AJ Venter (Partner, Corporate and M&A) or Charlotte Hamilton (Senior Associate, Corporate and M&A).

The updated Code focuses on long-term sustainable value creation while cutting unnecessary reporting and improving engagement quality. Richard Moriarty, FRC CEO