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Record Fine on Deloitte, But It’s Not Enough       

The Financial Report Council (FRC) has fined accounting firm Deloitte £20.6 million (including costs) for its defective auditing of Autonomy. Deloitte is the largest of the big four audit firms and this is what the head of the firm said when talking about their 2019 results: “Our FY 2019 results are a validation of Deloitte’s strategy to deliver high-quality, globally consistent service to our clients while continuing to serve the public interest and working to restore trust in capital markets”. Revenue of ...

Delistings: Take the Money and Run

by Paul de Gruchy, Director, ShareSoc One of the aspects of investing that is rarely discussed, and yet often provokes ShareSoc members to approach us for help and advice, is what happens when a company is delisted. The LSE is a public company, and so is keen to increase revenues by listing as many companies as possible. But all too frequently companies list, raise money, and then for whatever reason, delist from the market. Shareholders are left with shares in a private company ...

The Advantages of Investment Trusts

The AIC has issued a video which spells out some of the advantages of investment trusts over open-ended funds. They spell out that with most investment products you don’t have a say, but with investment trusts you do because you can vote on important decisions about how your company is run and what it invests in. You can also attend the Annual General Meeting (AGM) to meet, and question, the board directors and the investment manager. Investment companies also have independent ...

Pre-Emption Group (PEG) extends the easing of its issuance guidelines

Cliff Weight, Director, ShareSoc gives his personal views below which may not necessarily reflect ShareSoc's view. UK-listed companies hit by Covid-19 are being given an additional lifeline as the Pre-Emption Group (PEG) extends the easing of its issuance guidelines, allowing more share capital to be raised from shareholders. The PEG, the affiliate of the Financial Reporting Council that provides guidance on fundraisings and rights issues, has confirmed that the additional flexibilities put in place at the height of the pandemic will be extended ...

Modernisation of Stamp Duty

HMRC have announced a “Call for Evidence” on the “Modernisation of Stamp Taxes on Shares Framework”. If you deal mainly in the shares of public companies you may not know much about this subject – I certainly don’t. But the consultation document is very enlightening – see link below. That’s if you can understand it because this tax seems to be like capital gains tax – horribly complicated as it has been built up over many years and with a large ...