Group: considers developments for listed companies and will be off-limits to private practice

General counsel at more than 50 FTSE 100 companies have signed up to an exclusive new group chaired by Barclays Bank general counsel Mark Harding.


The General Counsel 100 Group - which will be strictly off-limits to private practice lawyers - will provide a forum for sharing views on legal developments affecting listed companies.


The group will hold quarterly meetings to discuss topical legal and regulatory issues, and will set up a series of working groups to provide input into law reform. Rosemary Martin, Reuters general counsel, and Helen Mahy, group general counsel at National Grid Transco, will be joint vice-chairwomen of the group. Richard Bennett, group general manager for legal and compliance at HSBC, will take the role of treasurer.


Mr Harding told the Gazette: 'The Sarbanes-Oxley legislation introduced in the US has been the catalyst for the group, because it is a problem that all major companies face. There is also increasing legal regulation in the UK and the EU.


'This will be a grouping of general counsel in the major corporations, akin to the Finance Directors 100 Group. We have already set up a working group to provide law reform input into changes to the UK listing rules. Another issue on the agenda is directors' indemnity.


'We will work out best practice on how to deal with changes in the law. We may conduct some questionnaire studies and it will also be a networking exercise. We may also look at legal risk management issues and law department management issues.'


He added: 'Private practice lawyers will be banned from meetings, and we will be quite strict on this for the foreseeable future. Occasionally, we will use their expertise to talk about a subject and lean on their experience, but they will not be members of the group. We are also restricting it to the FTSE 100 for the time being. There will be a lot of major corporations who will not be able to be members but we are keeping it to UK listed companies.'