Polling shows increasing government regulation is damaging commercial confidence more than the prospect of Brexit, which leaves businesses feeling “indifferent”. The surprise conclusion on Brexit, which contradicts the opinion of European Union (EU) cheerleaders like international bankers, big business representatives and pro-EU lobbyists at the Confederation of British Industry, was revealed in a FTSE 350 poll conducted by the Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators (ICSA). The Summer 2016 edition of the biannual FT-ICSA Boardroom Bellwether survey published today canvasses FTSE 350 views on the external environment and key governance issues such as board diversity, regulation, corporate culture and risk. Illustrating the respondents’ indifference to Brexit, only 43 per cent of them rate Brexit as potentially damaging, and and only 49 per cent of boards have even considered the implications of leaving the EU at some point after the UK’s June referendum. Evidencing other concerns for respondents, business confidence in the UK economy was found to be at its lowest since the surveys began in 2012, with just 13 per cent anticipating an improvement in the next twelve months. The global economy fared little better, with only 16 per cent expecting improvements on that front. The 13 per cent figure shows a very sharp decline from 40 per cent anticipating improvement in the UK