Directors’ duties and responsibilities: managing risks across group structures

This webinar will explore the unique challenges faced by directors serving on the boards of housing providers and other entities across the group. It will examine how directors can fulfil their legal and regulatory duties while balancing the interests of individual entities within a group structure, managing risk effectively, and protecting the long-term resilience of the organisation.

Topics covered include:

• The core duties and responsibilities of directors in housing providers, commercial subsidiaries, charitable entities and joint venture arrangements.
• Understanding risk contagion within group structures and how financial, operational, governance, and reputational issues can spread between entities.
• Practical mitigation strategies, including effective governance arrangements, group oversight, intra-group transactions, ring-fencing measures, and appropriate controls around joint ventures.
• The regulatory implications of group structures, including maintaining compliance, safeguarding social housing assets, and managing regulatory expectations where registered providers participate in commercial activities.
• Key legal considerations, including directors' fiduciary duties, conflicts of interest, insolvency-related duties, and decision-making where the interests of the group and individual entities may diverge.
• The impact of financial difficulties within a subsidiary or joint venture, including potential consequences for the housing provider, Board, lenders, regulators, and other stakeholders.
• Lessons learned from governance challenges and how boards can strengthen oversight, resilience, and risk management across complex group structures.

Designed for board members, directors, executives, governance professionals and in-house legal teams, this session will provide practical guidance on navigating the legal, regulatory and governance challenges of modern housing group structures while maintaining strong governance and protecting organisational value.