The Chartered Governance Institute UK & Ireland (CGI) has announced that a survey of FTSE 350 companies found that UK boards are generally optimistic regarding the UK economy, and are focusing considerably more on climate change than they previously did. The FTSE 350 Boardroom Bellwether survey sought views from FTSE 350 firms on various topics, including board diversity, working environment and climate change, among other things. It was conducted in late summer 2021 and responses were gathered from 51 FTSE 350 companies from various industries.

The Chartered Governance Institute UK & Ireland (CGI) has published an updated guidance note on the proper purpose test governing access to companies' registers of members under the Companies Act 2006. The 2026 edition reflects developments in case law and incorporates several High Court and Court of Appeal decisions, including Burry & Knight Limited & anr v Martin John Murless Knight and Richard Charles Fox–Davies v Burberry Plc.

A selection of the key guidance issued by The Chartered Governance Institute (formerly known as ICSA: The Governance Institute), the Association of General Counsel and Company Secretaries working in FTSE 100 Companies (GC100), the Association of British Insurers (ABI) and (following the merger of ABI Investment Affairs with The Investment Association (IA) on 30 June 2014) the IA (which has assumed responsibility for all ABI guidance), Glass Lewis, Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS), Pensions UK ( formerly the Pensions and Lifetime Savings Association (PLSA)) , Pensions & Investment Research Consultants Ltd (PIRC) and the Pre-emption Group. The Chartered Governance Institute guidance Board committees—terms of reference The Chartered Governance Institute guidance on terms of reference for the remuneration committee The Chartered Governance Institute guidance on terms of reference for the nomination committee The Chartered Governance Institute guidance on terms of reference for the audit committee The Chartered Governance Institute guidance on terms of reference for the risk committee The Chartered Governance Institute guidance on terms of reference for the ESG committee The Chartered Governance Institute

China General Nuclear Power Group / China General Nuclear: The joint investor with EDF Energy in the HPC, SZC and BRB nuclear new build projects in the UK.

CGT (capital gains tax) is the tax charged on gains (profit) realised when a chargeable asset is disposed of, such as by sale, gift or exchange. In UK practice (England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland), CGT is imposed under the Taxation of Chargeable Gains Act 1992 and related legislation, and applies to individuals, trustees and, in some cases, personal representatives; companies are generally subject instead to corporation tax on chargeable gains. In Ireland, capital gains tax is governed principally by the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997 and operates on similar principles, though rates, reliefs and exemptions differ from the UK regime. Across all these jurisdictions, key CGT issues for practitioners include: identifying a “disposal”; determining the acquisition and disposal consideration; calculating chargeable gains or allowable losses; applying reliefs (for example, principal private residence relief in the UK, retirement relief or entrepreneur relief in Ireland); and advising on reporting and payment deadlines. CGT planning is central in private client, property, corporate, trust and succession work, particularly on restructuring, share sales, real estate transactions, family wealth transfers and estate administration.

Private Client analysis: Murphy v HMRC [2025] UKFTT 1503 (TC), like the Court of Appeal decisions in HMRC v Smallwood and Haworth v HMRC before it, concerns capital tax planning for offshore trusts commonly known as ‘round the world’ schemes. The scheme attempted to rely on the terms of double taxation agreements as a defence to a charge to capital gains tax on disposals of trust assets. Murphy differed from previous cases because the double taxation agreement in question was with New Zealand and was differently worded from the treaty with Mauritius considered in Smallwood. Ultimately, however, the FTT concluded that did not make a difference. The FTT did, however, reject HMRC’s restrictive interpretation of what was required for a claim to relief under the treaty. It also took a strict view of how HMRC were required to meet their burden of proof in relation to discovery assessments, finding in relation to one assessment that the requirements of section 29(5) of the Taxes Management Act 1970 (TMA 1970) were not made out on the evidence.

What is principal private residence relief? Principal private residence (PPR) relief is a relief from capital gains tax (CGT). It is available on the gain realised on the disposal of a dwelling house or land occupied and enjoyed with the dwelling house, which is or has at any time during the period of ownership been the only or main residence of the owner. The residence can be either a UK residence or an overseas residence (subject to certain conditions regarding the taxpayer’s tax residence status). If it has not been the only or main residence throughout the period of ownership (subject to certain permitted absences) or if the individual has not been resident in the same territory as the house or land for a time during their period of ownership, only part of the gain will be reduced by the relief. The relief is only available on disposals by individuals, trustees and personal representatives (PRs), not on disposals by companies. See Practice Note: CGT—PPR relief for trusts and estates for further guidance on disposals by trustees and PRs. Dwelling

Principal private residence relief (PPR relief) exempts part or all of the gain realised on the disposal of an individual’s dwelling-house from capital gains tax (CGT) if the dwelling–house has been their only or main residence at some point during their period of ownership. UK resident taxpayers can claim PPR relief on the disposal of a UK residence or a non-UK residence. Non-UK resident individuals can claim PPR relief on the disposal of a UK dwelling-house. From 6 April 2015, an individual’s residence will not be eligible for PPR relief for a tax year unless the individual: • was resident in the country in which the dwelling-house is located in that tax year; or • spent at least 90 nights in the dwelling-house (or dwelling-houses in the same country) in the tax year Principal private residence relief: the basics Gains realised on the disposal of an individual’s dwelling-house are, generally, exempt from CGT if the dwelling–house has been their only or main

This Practice Note outlines the circumstances in which trustees of a settlement or the personal representatives (PRs) of a deceased person may claim principal private residence (PPR) relief from capital gains tax (CGT) in respect of property held in a settlement or in an estate. For details of PPR relief generally and how it applies to individuals, see Practice Note: CGT—PPR relief. Private residence occupied under the terms of a settlement Section 225 of the Taxation of Chargeable Gains Act 1992 (TCGA 1992) extends the PPR exemption in TCGA 1992, s 222 to disposals of settled property where, during the period of ownership by the trustees, the dwelling house has been the only or main residence of a person entitled to occupy the property under the terms of the settlement. Whether or not a beneficiary is entitled to occupy a trust property will depend on whether they have an interest in possession in the trust or are otherwise entitled to occupy following an exercise of the trustees’ discretion as a beneficiary of a discretionary

Sections 22–24 of the Taxation of Chargeable Gains Act 1992 (TCGA 1992) contain provisions which deal with the disposal or deemed disposal of assets which have been lost, destroyed, damaged or have become of negligible value. For information on negligible value claims, see Practice Note: CGT—assets of negligible value and HMRC Capital Gains Manual (CGM) CG13120P. For an overview of the basic principles of capital gains tax (CGT), including the scope of the tax, assets chargeable to CGT, qualifying disposals and the method of calculation of CGT, see Practice Note: Introductory guide to CGT. Asset lost or destroyed—basic position The starting point is contained within TCGA 1992, s 24(1) and states that the occasion of the entire loss, destruction, dissipation or extinction of an asset constitutes a disposal of the asset whether or not any capital sum by way of compensation or otherwise is received. There are certain exceptions to this general rule that are considered below. If the disposal of such an asset would have ordinarily given rise to a capital gain then this

Generally a taxpayer can only claim a capital loss in respect of an asset where that asset has been disposed of, or has been destroyed completely. If the asset has simply become worthless (ie of negligible value), but continues to exist, there is no capital loss under the normal rules. For more information about claims for losses where assets are destroyed, see Practice Note: CGT—assets lost, destroyed or damaged. Negligible value claim However, the taxpayer may claim under section 24(2) of the Taxation of Chargeable Gains Act 1992 (TCGA 1992) for an asset in their ownership to be treated as having been sold and immediately reacquired at the value specified in the claim. The amount specified will normally be the market value of the asset and in many instances that value will be zero. While ‘negligible value’ is not defined in the legislation, HMRC takes the view that it means ‘worth next to nothing’. The reason behind the negligible value claim (NVC) is to allow taxpayers to realise losses on assets which they would otherwise be

General principles For capital gains tax (CGT) purposes, trustees are treated as a single chargeable person in their own right (separate from the individual trustees themselves). It is common to speak of trusts as though (like a company) they have their own separate legal personality, but it is important to remember that they do not. The rules for computing a chargeable gain made by trustees is very similar to those that apply to an individual. Trustees may wish to sell trust assets if they consider, in accordance with their duties as trustees (for further guidance on trustees’ duties, see Practice Note: Trustees—duties), that it is in the interests of the beneficiaries to do so. When the trustees are making actual disposals of trust property by way of an arm’s length sale to an unconnected third party, the computational rules will use the consideration provided for the disposal in order to calculate the chargeable gain. In addition to trustees making actual disposals of trust property, trustees are sometimes deemed to make a disposal for CGT purposes.