ShareSoc News

FSCS Consultation Response

ShareSoc responded to the FCA's consultation on funding of the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) with this note: FSCS-Funding

Response to the FCA’s consultation on funding of the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS)

ShareSoc responded to the FCA’s consultation on funding of the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) with this note: FSCS-Funding

Persimmon Voting Recommendations

PRESS RELEASE 92 27/03/2017 ShareSoc is opposed to the Remuneration Policy of Persimmon Plc. We therefore recommend VOTING AGAINST the Persimmon AGM resolutions as follows: Remuneration Policy (Resolution No. 2), Remuneration Report (No. 3), Remuneration Committee Chair Jonathan Davie (No. 8) and the 2017 Performance Share Plan (No. 14). How can the Remuneration Report almost completely ignore the existing LTIP awards? There is no mention of the £100 million share scheme for Persimmon CEO Fairburn in the new remuneration policy, other than to ...

Double Taxation and Broken Promises

PRESS RELEASE 91 21/03/2017 The most recent changes to dividend taxation in the Chancellors Spring Budget are a major attack on private investors. The simple change to reduce the Dividend Tax Allowance from £5,000 to £2,000 only a year after it was introduced will have a big impact on the tax paid by many investors. It's also another example of a broken promise about "no increases in taxes" made in the Conservative manifesto. The Chancellor, Philip Hammond, has already had to back-track ...

Response to Consultation on Enhancing conduct of business rules for firms providing contract for difference products

ShareSoc responded to the FCA’s consultation on business rules for firms providing contract for difference (CFD) products with this note: CFD-Response

Alliance Trust Vote – A Victory for Private Investors and ShareSoc

PRESS RELEASE 90 01/03/2017 Yesterday Alliance Trust shareholders voted to support the Board's proposals to change the investment management arrangements and to buy out Elliot. This is surely a major win for private investors and for the stance taken by ShareSoc and the Alliance Trust Shareholder Action Group (ATSAG) which ShareSoc has supported over the last 3 years. ShareSoc wholeheartedly backed the Board's proposals. Alliance Trust can now move forward. But it was a close run thing as proxy advisory services who advise ...

Response to the Asset Management Market Study

ShareSoc submitted the following comments to the FCA on the Asset Management Market Study - Interim Report: Asset-Management-Study

ShareSoc Issues Response to Green Paper on Corporate Governance Reform

PRESS RELEASE 89 20/02/2017 How to fix the ills of the UK Corporate Governance scene? ShareSoc and UKSA have given their solutions in a response to the Government Green Paper on Corporate Governance Reform. We have emphasised that the following are the key issues: 1. Engagement between shareholders and companies is not working. Shareholders are not exercising effective stewardship and control, and boards are failing to fulfil their fiduciary obligations to members. As a result, public trust in business is low. This is ...

Alliance Trust Voting Recommendations

PRESS RELEASE 88 17/02/2017 Alliance Trust have convened a General Meeting on the 28th February. It includes 4 resolutions covering the change in investment approach and the proposed share buy back of shares held by Elliott. Our recommendation is that shareholders vote "FOR" all the resolutions. ShareSoc is issuing this press release because we understand that some institutional investor advisory services have expressed some concerns about the proposals. The Alliance Trust Shareholder Action Group which has been supported by ShareSoc is satisfied that the new ...

Response to BEIS Consultation on Green Paper on Corporate Governance

ShareSoc’s response to the public consultation on the Green Paper issued by the BEIS Department on Corporate Governance is present here: Green-Paper-Corporate-Governance-Response

RBS Rejects Democracy

PRESS RELEASE 87 01/02/2017 The Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) has rejected a requisition to implement a Shareholder Committee. ShareSoc will not permit this unreasonable obstruction of shareholder democracy to stand. It is a basic principle of Company Law that shareholders can requisition resolutions which must be put to a vote of shareholders. If the directors do not like a requisition, then they can advise shareholders to vote against it. But they should not be using tenuous technical excuses to avoid putting ...

FCA’s Mission Needs Substantial Reform, says ShareSoc

PRESS RELEASE 86 23/01/2017 ShareSoc (the UK Individual Shareholders Society) has submitted its response to the Financial Conduct Authority's public consultation on its "Future Mission" with a hard-hitting critique of their activities. We have been concerned for some time about the effectiveness and focus of the FCA and the consultation document tends to reinforce our view on that. It is a somewhat discursive document without a clear focus on the main issues that need to be faced in the future by the FCA, ...