If corporate governance is about creating the conditions for good decisions, business ethics is the test of whether those decisions protect people, earn trust and endure. Expectations are rising, stakeholders want proof that boards can surface risk early, act on it and show how values steer strategy.
Grant Thornton’s 2025 Corporate Governance Review (CGR 2025) takes stock of where FTSE 350 boards are now and what must improve as the new Code beds in, especially internal controls, board capability and the quality of disclosure.
In this insight from the Institute of Business Ethics, Claire Fargeot – Head of Governance and Board Advisory, Grant Thornton UK – shares learnings for business ethics practitioners from the Grant Thornton 2025 Corporate Governance review.
The article explores what it takes to move from compliance to candour — on internal controls, culture, AI risk and executive incentives — and why boards that treat ethics as the organising principle of governance build more durable stakeholder trust. Drawing on CGR 2025 findings across the FTSE 350, it examines where progress is real and where gaps remain.
The article also looks at how the most advanced reporters are embedding culture into control systems, how Provision 29 is reshaping director accountability, and what the near-term agenda means for boards seeking to lead rather than lag on governance quality.
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Read the full article here.