EMEA 360 Boardroom Survey

About the report

The report illustrates what non-executive directors identify as key issues facing boards over the past 12 months and what are expected to be the main issues in the next 12-24 months. It goes on to focus more specifically on six aspects of corporate governance: strategy and risk; innovation; cyber security; remuneration of senior executives; boardroom succession and talent; and board performance and evaluation.

This report considers not just the overall views of respondents in EMEA, but also looks at differences and similarities between countries and industry sectors, raising some thought-provoking ideas about the nature of corporate governance practices within the EMEA region and how opinions and practice may be evolving.

Key findings from the report

• Non-executive directors appear to be adopting a slightly more optimistic outlook for growth and competitiveness in the short to medium term compared to the recent past. Previous concerns about cost reduction and capital management, in response to adverse economic conditions, have diminished. 
• Effective and flexible strategy has remained a top priority for our respondents. A crucial element of setting this agenda is the active consideration of risk in the board’s every day decision making processes; almost 90% of the responses indicate that non-executive directors across the region were satisfied that risk management is well integrated.
• The importance given to innovation saw significant differences between countries and industries: Germany, Ireland and Italy, countries where there is a clear government drive for innovation together with a well-established start-up and entrepreneurial culture, have it high on the agenda, and unsurprisingly, innovation also features heavily on the boardroom agenda of life sciences and TMT industries, but less so in construction and energy and resources. Product innovation was the area receiving the most attention.
• When asked to rate board awareness of cyber risks, only 48 per cent gave a high ranking while 20 per cent gave a low rating. Less than half of respondents said that their organization currently had an action plan in place to deal with cyber security matters.
• In addition to these more outward focused matters of strategy, key aspects of corporate governance were also discussed.

Country profiles

Throughout the EMEA region, corporate governance arrangements differ substantially, not just between countries, but also between listed and non-listed companies.

The Country Profile document gives an overview of governance regulations and practice on a country-by-country basis, for the 20 countries participating in our study. They show the requirements or recommendations and practices relating to the structure of boards, independence of directors, and employee and shareholder representation at board level.

The profiles also provide high-level information linked to the regulatory bodies for corporate governance in the individual countries, corporate governance codes and other key documents in place. This does not necessarily provide the complete picture but if you would like more information please reach out to your local Deloitte Corporate Governance expert.