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ShareSoc Blog

This blog gives you the latest topical news plus some informal comments on them from ShareSoc’s directors and other contributors. These are the personal comments of the authors and not necessarily the considered views of ShareSoc. The writers may hold shares in the companies mentioned. You can add your own comments on the blog posts, but note that ShareSoc reserves the right to remove or edit comments where they are inappropriate or defamatory.

There is more news given in the News page of our web site and more analysis of news is provided in our monthly newsletter for members – see the Newsletters page.

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ADVFN AGM – How to Disenfranchise Shareholders, and OFCOM Interest

I was surprised yesterday to pick up an RNS Announcement from ADVFN Plc (AFN) stating that the company’s Annual General Meeting had taken place on that day and all resolutions were duly passed. I was surprised because as a shareholder in the company (and on the register), I had received no notification of the AGM and no proxy voting form either of course. In addition there is no notice of the AGM given in any RNS announcement, and there is no information ...

Persimmon Directors, IDOX Profit Warning and Transplants

This morning house building company Persimmon announced that Chairman Nicholas Wrigley and Non-Exec Director Jonathan Davie were departing. The company says that both of them recognise that the 2012 LTIP “could have included a cap” and “in recognition of this omission” they have tendered their resignations. Holders of Persimmon shares like me, or indeed anyone who has followed the debate on excessive executive pay, will be aware of the outrageous pay that has resulted at this and other companies because of the ...

RBS Campaign Update 9 – Progress as at 13/12/2017

If you have not yet joined the campaign you can still do so, please click here to download the forms https://www.sharesoc.org/rbs-agm-2018-requisitions/ . EMAIL 1 sent out on 24 Nov 2017 and 80 new campaign members recruited. Resolution and Request for discussion finalised. Click here to see them. EMAIL 2 sent out on 9 Dec 2017 to all campaign members asking them to sign the forms and return them to us. 30 received so far. We need at least 100 ...

FRC Corporate Governance Consultation and FCA Consultation on Competition

The FRC has launched a consultation on the Corporate Governance Code. https://www.frc.org.uk/consultation-list/2017/consulting-on-a-revised-uk-corporate-governance-co The FCA has launched a Consultation on Competition https://www.fca.org.uk/publication/corporate/our-approach-competition.pdf ShareSoc will most likely be making a joint response with the UK Shareholders’ Association to both of these consultations. You are welcome to send your views to cliff.weight@sharesoc.org . Peter Parry and I will consider them in making our response. You are also welcome to submit your own comments/response directly to the FRC/FCA, but please state that they are your views (you cannot assume that ...

Stale Directors and the UK Corporate Governance Code

One interesting fact highlighted by the Financial Times today was the impact of the proposed new UK Corporate Governance Code on company Chairmen. It pointed out that the change in the Code to limit the length of service of directors will include their time as Chairmen and will mean dozens of long-standing Chairmen may need to retire. The FT suggests 67 FTSE-100 chairmen will be affected, and there will be another 48 chairmen of FTSE-250 companies according to an analysis by the ...

Further on the FRC and its Report on the HBOS Audit

Roger’s blog makes a number of hard hitting points about the FRC. However, there are some promising actions which indicate change is happening at the FRC. The meeting with the FRC and ShareSoc and UKSA members on 21 November was most helpful in establishing a good working relationship with the FRC. There are promising signs that the FRC want to work closely with us and we have been asked to put representatives onto a number of their committees and working groups. More ...

Brexit, HBOS, Globo and the FRC

Is it not heartening that the Brexit divorce bill, and other terms, have been settled? The exact cost is unclear but it could be up to £40 billion – a lot of money you may say! However, the fact that the key negotiators, Mrs May, Barnier et al, all looked somewhat glum about the deal when announced perhaps tells us that it was a compromise in which both sides had to concede ground. Or perhaps they were just tired. The terms ...

Christmas Contests With Prizes

This month, we’re running two competitions, asking for your nominations. Fat Santa Award: This award will be given to the Chief Executive with the greediest LTIP award, making him...

Shareholder Rights

ShareSoc continue to press for the name on the register, i.e. the beneficial owner not just the nominee as part of a package to restore the rights of individual shareholders, who have been disenfranchised by the nominee system and consequently disempowered. See our Shareholder Rights Campaign for more, and to support us on this. Below is some commentary on recent and not so recent relevant developments. You may have seen that Citi have “launched” a new shareholder voting system. It’s a test ...

Worldwide Healthcare Trust – Telegraph Omits Latest News

This morning (7/12/2017) the Daily Telegraph’s Questor column ran a puff on the Worldwide Healthcare Trust (WWH), a company which incidentally I do hold. It made such comments as “this trust has returned 16 per cent a year for 22 years, and it should keep on roaring”. The Trust fund is managed by Orbimed Capital LLC, and perhaps the unfortunate aspect of the above is the failure to mention the announcement by the Trust yesterday over serious allegations of sexual harassment against ...
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