Following our communication on 18th November 2008 outlining recent developments at Nominet, we want to ensure our members and other stakeholders remain fully informed of new developments.

Whilst we have made positive progress over the last few weeks, we do remain extremely concerned that confidential information continues to be shared with members of the media. These actions are clearly detrimental to the interests of Nominet.  We encourage colleagues and members to contact us directly with queries about any aspect of the governance review or the updates outlined below.

Updates since our last communication

1. Governance review
As many of you will have seen, we have announced the appointment of Professor Bob Garratt to lead the independent governance review.  Professor Garratt will carry out a detailed review over the next 4 months. The scope of the review will include:

• A review of Nominet's constitution, comparing it with the 2006 Companies Act in relation to Director's Duties, and best practice as set out in the revised 2008 Combined Code
• Recommendations for the development of the Nominet Board and any changes needed in order that the directors of the company reflect wider stakeholder interests
• Analysis of Board composition, effectiveness and dynamics
• Relationships between management, stakeholders and the Board.

International support & engagement
Following the announcement of the review, we have received an open letter of support from six of the world's largest registries.  The CEOs of these registries have offered to share their experiences with Professor Garratt as part of the Governance Review.  Professor Garratt will make the decision on whether to engage our International colleagues, but we would like to thank them for their support and engagement in such an important issue.

Next communication
Our next communication on the review, barring any timing updates or engagement requests in the interim, will be to outline findings and potential next steps. We anticipate this will be in March 2009.


2.  Appointment of Independent Director following non-executive director resignation

Following Angus Hanton's resignation, Veredus has drawn up a shortlist of potential non-executive director replacements to temporarily co-opt onto the board.  As stated in our previous communication, the goal is to appoint an independent director that will work with all Nominet stakeholders.  We hope to make an announcement on the co-opted director appointment in due course.

Next steps

We will keep you informed of progress and developments.  As ever, we remain committed to the continued smooth running of .uk and to deliver a secure and robust service to our members, registrars and customers.