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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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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 ...

New Corporate Governance Code

The Financial Reporting Council (FRC) have published a new UK Corporate Governance Code – a draft that is subject to public consultation. The revised Code sets out good practice so that the boards of companies can: Establish a company’s purpose, strategy and values and satisfy themselves that these and their culture are aligned; Undertake effective engagement with wider stakeholders, to improve trust and achieve mutual benefit, and to have regard to wider society; Gather views of the workforce; Ensure appointments to ...

RBS in the firing line as ShareSoc renews campaign

Press Release 99 – RBS in the firing line as ShareSoc renews campaign   Individual investors expected to join ShareSoc’s new requisition for a Shareholder Committee at the Royal Bank of Scotland    - As last year, ShareSoc will be requisitioning a resolution for a Shareholder Committee at the 2018 RBS AGM - This year's resolution addresses the trivial legal objections previously raised by RBS. ShareSoc is confident that RBS will be obliged to put the resolution to the AGM - ShareSoc is rallying ...

Budget Feedback, the Patient Capital Review and Productivity

My last post on the Chancellors Budget was written quickly but seems to have covered most of the important points. Perhaps one significant item missed was the additional liability of foreign investors for capital gains tax on property sales, although institutional investors may be exempt. This might have some impact but as the details are not yet clear, it remains to be seen what. Otherwise the media feedback on the budget was generally positive although there was a big emphasis on the ...
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