Allen & Overy, and the global risk management brokerage and advisory firm Willis Towers Watson, have published the latest report on Directors’ liability D&O: Personal Exposure to Global Risk.

At a time when regulators and investigatory authorities are focusing unprecedented attention on personal accountability for company directors, we are pleased to bring you the sixth edition of our series on directors’ liability.

In this report, we have revisited several of the themes that have consistently presented themselves in previous years, as well as exploring several new developments that add to the breadth of concerns keeping directors and officers awake at night. Some of the key themes include cyber attack and data breach, criminal and regulatory investigations, the Senior Managers and Certification Regime, health and safety, and climate change.

Some of our key findings include:

• 51% of public companies have experienced either a significant cyber-attack or a sizeable data loss in the past year.

• 43% of large employers, and 38% of listed companies, have experienced a regulatory claim involving a director in the last 12 months.

• 60% say the regulatory focus on personal accountability is impacting decision-making processes.

• 37% say health and safety legislation is a significant concern impacting a company’s business.

A copy of the final report can be accessed here.