The bottom ten of the UK’s 100 largest listed companies also includes stars such as Tesco, the fallen angel Unilever and Wm Morrison, which is under pressure to improve boardroom standards as it struggles to turn around Safeway.

The top-ranking firms were BHP Billiton, Smith & Nephew and Scottish Power.

FTSE and its partner, Institutional Shareholder Services — an arbiter of boardroom standards in the US — scored every listed UK company on a range of factors including board independence, directors’ pay arrangements, equity structure, anti-takeover devices and the integrity of the audit process.

The rankings will enable investors to pick or shun companies according to these factors and to monitor their performance in meeting best practice.

The top 80 per cent of companies will also be included in a series of new indices, the Corporate Governance Index series, which FTSE hopes will spawn tradeable securities and unit trusts — enabling investors to back companies that meet high standards.

FTSE and ISS are launching similar arrangements across 23 other countries and producing six regional indices.

While no one has been able to prove that good corporate governance translates into improved stock market performance, FTSE believes that investors who boycott the corporate governance laggards will enjoy reduced volatility. Antofagasta, the Londonlisted company with large Chilean copper interests, has come under fire before because of the iron grip of the founding Luksic family. It had no comment yesterday.

British Land has been criticised in the past for dragging its feet over splitting the roles of John Ritblat, the chairman and chief executive. But it has made large strides in improving boardroom systems over the past 18 months. Sir Derek Higgs, the corporate governance czar, is deputy chairman.

One source close to the company expressed surprise at its place in the rankings: “It’s unfathomable, given the high standards of corporate governance at British Land.”

Although bottom of the heap in the FTSE 100, both companies were average compared with standards overseas and among smaller companies.

Among all UK listed companies, the technology groups BATM Advanced Communications and Emblaze and the insurance broker Benfield took the bottom three places. Stockbrokers Evolution Group and Charles Stanley and fashion retailer French Connection also scored poorly.

GOVERNANCE LEADERS

Ranking in FTSE 100 according to corporate governance scores

1 BHP Billiton
2 Smith & Nephew
3 Scottish Power
4 BT Group
5 Wolseley
6 O2
7 William Hill
8 BAA
9 Whitbread
10 Severn Trent

GOVERNANCE LAGGARDS

100 Antofagasta
99 British Land
98 Alliance Unichem
97 Xstrata 96 Unilever
95 Wm Morrison Supermarkets
94 Compass Group
93 Rolls-Royce Group
92 Northern Rock
91 Tesco

Source: FTSE and Institutional Shareholder Services