Jan 13, 2017
Sports Direct fails to appoint outsider for review
Sports Direct has appointed its longstanding law firm RPC to conduct an "Independent" review of corporate governance, months after promising rebellious investors that it would call on an outsider instead. The sportswear chain sought to blame shareholder representatives for the reversal, saying it had "Twice accepted candidates who were put forward to chair the review by the Investor Forum", a group that speaks for several large shareholders, "Only for those candidates to subsequently be withdrawn". Two people briefed on the discussions took issue with that characterisation, saying Sports Direct gave up after making serious efforts to enlist only two people from lists of more than 20 that would have been acceptable to shareholders. Sports Direct said in a statement that RPC had "Adopted the highest standards" in delivering an earlier report into employment conditions at the company, and that it wanted to avoid any further delay. The Investor Forum, a corporate governance body that represents asset managers controlling £14.5tn of assets, last year took the rare step of going public with its complaints against Sports Direct. The following month, the Financial Times revealed that Sports Direct was paying a company owned by Mr Ashley's older brother for overseas deliveries without disclosing the arrangement as a related-party transaction.
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