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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 ...

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 ...

ULS Technology, Keystone Law and Collusion on IPO Pricing

Yesterday I attended an interim results presentation by ULS Technology (ULS). They have been listed on AIM for a couple of years and have grown both from organic increases in revenue and from acquisitions which is often a good formula. They operate in the legal conveyancing and estate agency market where volumes have not been great of late – it seems house prices have made it difficult for folks to move plus changes to stamp duty and buy-to-let taxes have deterred ...

A Cautionary Tale from Paul Scott

City AM published an educational story last week which is worth repeating. It covered the investment record of Paul Scott who is very well known in the small cap investment world. He writes very perceptive, and quick, analyses of announcements by smaller companies for Stockopedia with a strong emphasis on the financial accounts. He trained as an accountant and worked for a retailing company as finance director for some years. He then became a professional investor – one might say living ...

FRC study: Risk and Viability Reporting

In July of this year, UKSA and ShareSoc members received an email inviting them to participate in a survey being run by the Financial Reporting Council (FRC). The survey was part of a wider study being carried out by the FRC into Risk and Viability Reporting. Over 190 members responded which was an excellent result. The FRC agreed that it would provide feedback for members on the results of the survey. This article from Patrick Leach at the FRC summarises the ...