Sir Derek Higgs

Some sad news: the death of Sir Derek Higgs has been announced. Sir Derek was the author of what became known as the Higgs Report (a.k.a. "Review of the role and effectiveness of non-executive directors"). Today, the composition of the largest UK companies' boards owes a great deal to the Higgs Report (see here). The Report stressed the importance of non-executive directors in corporate governance: it recommended that at least half of the members of the board, excluding the chairman, should be independent non-executive directors. This is now a provision within the UK's Combined Code (A.3.2), although one that applies only to FTSE350 companies.

Obituaries have been published in The Daily Telegraph, The Guardian, The Financial Times, The Times and The Independent newspapers.