premise: The controversial new code on corporate governance has been reassessed and significantly changed in advance of publication. Following intense pressure from company directors many of the original proposals have been scrapped, and many others have been watered down to reduce the pressure of compliance on organizations. Overall, the revisions have resulted in the removal of rules that restrict company behaviors in favor of the introduction of a recommendations-based approach, which does not set specific standards of behavior. The changes have highlighted the divide between company directors, who generally support the changes as vital to keep away from a culture of rule avoidance, and other shareholder groups who believe that a best practice approach lacks teeth and will not result in greater board accountability.
hypothesis: Following the revision, the code is now much more prescriptive in its approach to corporate governance.