Companies Act 2014 section 1617

Resolution for accredited third party to prepare report on certain elements of sustainability reporting

Section 1617 deals with the right of shareholders to require an independent third party to verify certain elements of a company's sustainability reporting, and with how the resulting verification report must be made available.

• Shareholders holding 5 per cent or more of the voting rights or share capital, individually or collectively, may table a resolution at the annual general meeting requiring an accredited independent third party to report on certain elements of the company's sustainability reporting
• The independent third party must not belong to the same audit firm or network as the company's statutory auditor
• Where such a verification report is produced, the directors must ensure it is either annexed to the directors' report for the relevant financial year or published on the company's website
• This right does not apply to public-interest entities falling within paragraph (a) of the definition of "public-interest entity"