Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) Shareholder Committee Campaign

ShareSoc and UKSA have now paused this campaign because RBS are now engaging better with shareholders and have announced a programme of 4 events a year specifically focussed on engagement with individual shareholders. You can find further details here: RBS Shareholder Committee Campaign – Update 17

ShareSoc has advocated the implementation of Shareholder Committees since our inception in 2011. Recently this initiative has received support in the form of the Government’s November 2016 Green Paper on Corporate Governance, and in the form of Chris Philp M.P.’s September 2016 paper entitled Restoring Responsible Ownership.

ShareSoc has decided to focus on RBS as a complex enterprise whose governance would benefit from the adoption of a Shareholder Committee.

ShareSoc has submitted resolutions to the RBS AGMs requesting the implementation of an RBS Shareholder Committee.

If you want to prevent further failures at RBS by creating a Shareholder Committee, please support this initiative.

Quick links

Please join the campaign by completing the form here, if not already a campaign member.

View updates on the campaign here

Background Information

Shareholder Committees

The primary role of the Shareholder Committee is to improve the agency model of corporate governance by increasing the engagement and oversight of Shareholders in the operation of the companies owned by them.
ShareSoc have been campaigning for many years for the establishment of Shareholder Committees. ShareSoc have written a detailed paper on the subject. See Shareholder-Committees.
The MP, Chris Philp, wrote an excellent paper on shareholder committees in Sept 2016 and this has received wide publicity. See Responsible Ownership. ShareSoc have a number of concerns about the practicalities of a few of his suggestions and are in the process of writing to him to explain how the Shareholder Committee can best be implemented.
The Nov 2016 Government Green Paper on Corporate Governance mentions Shareholder Committees as a way forward that could be mandated or could be adopted via the UK Corporate Governance Code or voluntarily. See Green Paper.

Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS)

RBS is a hugely underperforming company and since 2007, long term investors have lost 95% of the value of their investment, largely due to failures in corporate governance.. RBS is 62.4% owned by the Government via UKGI, so it is important to all the people in the UK that RBS has good corporate governance. Therefore, RBS should be in the forefront of adopting Shareholder Committees.
We are submitting a resolution to the AGM. Legally, we can do this so long as we have over 100 shareholders supporting the motion who hold collectively 10,000 RBS shares (about £24,000 at today’s price).

Other Companies

ShareSoc hope that other companies will follow our RBS example but voluntarily adopt Shareholder Committees. If companies resist, then it is our intention to submit AGM resolutions to other companies.

Proposed Resolution

Our resolution for the 2019 AGM is available here.

Updates

Regular updates on the RBS Campaign will be posted on this web page and on the ShareSoc blog.

Update 1 30/12/2016. This press release was issued on the day of the submission of the Requisition to RBS: Press085 . The final version of the resolution as submitted to RBS is present in this document: RBS-AGM-Resolution.

Update 2 01/02/2017. This press release was issued after RBS unreasonably rejected ShareSoc’s requisition for an AGM Resolution: Press087

Update 3 11/03/2017. This update was sent to all campaign supporters: Update-3.

FT Article 01/04/2017. The Financial Times have published an article on the refusal of RBS to put a resolution to the AGM on shareholder committees. See this blog post for commentary on it.

Please write to the Chairman of RBS to support the requisition. A suggested letter you could use as a template is present here: Letter-to-Chairman

Update 4 Press Release 11/04/2017. ShareSoc issued this press release giving voting recommendations for Annual General Meeting of RBS: Press093

Update 5 16/06/2017. RBS Shareholder Committee Campaign: Click here to read.

RBS Shareholder Event 26/07/2017. An event for individual shareholders has been organised. Read more here.
Click Here to read Cliff Weight’s report about how badly it went.

Update 6 21/10/2017. RBS Snub to Chris Philp MP and next steps – Click here to read.

Update 7 26/10/2017. ShareSoc send Open letter to RBS Board which is reported on in CityAM: http://www.cityam.com/274595/investor-group-chastises-rbs-toothless-approach-corporate

Update 8 05/12/2017. ShareSoc to requisiton a new resolution for a shareholder committee for the RBS 2018 AGM: https://www.sharesoc.org/sharesoc-news/rbs-firing-line-sharesoc-renews-campaign/

Update 9 13/12/2017. An update on our requisitions for RBS’s 2018 AGM: https://www.sharesoc.org/blog/corporate-governance/rbs-campaign-update-9-progress-13122017/

Update 10 29/12/2017. 161 forms submitted, press release issued and huge media coverage: https://www.sharesoc.org/sharesoc-news/rbs-campaign-update-10-161-forms-submitted-press-release-issued-huge-media-coverage/

Update 11 14/2/2018. We’ve (almost) won! : https://www.sharesoc.org/sharesoc-news/rbs-shareholder-committee-weve-almost-won/

Update 12 29/4/2018. AGM Voting recommendations, remuneration and campaign update: https://www.sharesoc.org/sharesoc-news/rbs-agm-voting-update-12/

Update 13 8/7/2018. AGM result and subsequent publicity: https://www.sharesoc.org/sharesoc-news/rbs-agm-result-and-subsequent-publicity/

Update 14 1/1/2019. Resolution has been submitted. See RBS Campaign Update 14 for further details.

Update 15 1/4/2019. Resolution has been accepted and is on the AGM agenda. See RBS Campaign Update 15 for further details.

Update 16 23/9/2019. Report on RBS Shareholder Engagement Event on 10 Sep 2019. See https://www.sharesoc.org/blog/meetings-for-investors/rbs-shareholder-event-10-september-2019/ for further details

Update 17 15/12/2019. Campaign paused. See RBS Campaign Update 17 for further details.

Update 18 17/4/2020. 2020 AGM Voting Recommendations. See RBS Campaign Update 18 for further details.

For more information on ShareSoc, go here: About

If you wish to make a voluntary contribution to support the costs of running this campaign please go to this page of our web site: Donations. Alternatively we do recommend a paid subscription to ShareSoc which gives you many other benefits.

JOIN THE RBS SHAREHOLDER COMMITTEE CAMPAIGN

Please use the form below to join this campaign (you will receive confirmation by return within 48 hours). You will be given free Associate Membership of ShareSoc unless you opt not to receive it, if you are not already a member of ShareSoc. Note that you may omit your telephone number, if you prefer not to disclose it, but we do need an email or postal address as we may need to send you forms for signature if we requisition an EGM or resolutions. It also helps us to know the number of shares in RBS you hold.

If you do not currently own any RBS shares, we can give you 1 share so you can join and support the campaign. Please tick the box in the form below to request us to give you 1 share.

RBS Campaign

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E-mail Address*
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- Tick this box if you do not wish to receive free Associate Membership of ShareSoc.
Number of shares held
How Shares Held*
- My shares are in a nominee account
- I am a directly registered shareholder
- I am not currently a shareholder, please give me a RBS share so that I can support the campaign
Please choose one of the above options. Note that most shareholders' shares are held in nominee accounts. This is mandatory if your shares are in an ISA or a SIPP. Your shares are only directly registered if you have a paper share certificate or if you hold them in a personal CREST Account. If you have shares both directly registered and in a nominee account, please select "directly registered".
For more on understanding nominee accounts, visit this page. If you're still not sure how your shares are held, please contact us for assistance

Group description:	As a relatively new group we have evolved into a lively discussion group with a wide variety of experience. We cover general investing topics, from value / growth investing to charting and investing for income. All are welcome, experienced and novice alike.
Meeting Type/Venue:	In person meetings at a golf club near to the centre of Taunton.
Meeting Frequency/Timing:	We meet on the first Monday of every month. Meetings start at 11am and break for lunch around 12.30 – 1pm. Meetings continue for around 1 hour after lunch, after which time members are welcome to stay on to socialise.

Group description:	Our group discuss a wide range of income generating instruments. Quoted dividend paying companies are usually the biggest topic for discussion; but we also discuss dividend paying Investment Trusts (including REITs) and ETFs, bonds (government and corporate), and preference shares.
Meeting Type/Venue:	Meetings are held online via Zoom.
Meeting Frequency/Timing:	Monthly on the 1st Tuesday of the month, from 6:30pm.

Group description:	The aim of this group is to share our investing ideas and experiences across all equity markets, brokers, websites and software to the benefit of us all. We do not discuss sums of money invested but may mention percentages gained and lost. We will rotate the chairperson who is responsible for creating, with member’s help, suitable agendas. We also rotate members to deliver a presentation, lasting between 15 and 45 minutes, on a topic of their choosing.
Meeting Type/Venue:	Meetings are held online via video conferencing.
Meeting Frequency/Timing:	Monthly on the 3rd Tuesday of the month, from 2-4pm.

Group description:	A small group whose primary interests are equity and Investment Trusts.
Meeting Type/Venue:	Meetings are online using Skype.
Meeting Frequency/Timing:	Meetings are held fortnightly on Tuesday mornings.

Group description:	We welcome anyone interested in investments regardless of their level of knowledge and experience.
Meeting Type/Venue:	Meetings are held in a function room of a pub in Beaconsfield New Town.
Meeting Frequency/Timing:	Monthly on the 1st Wednesday of each month at 6pm.

Group description:	Our group is interested in sustainable investing and our goal is to identify and evaluate businesses that will thrive through innovation and their transition to a ‘One Planet Economy’. By leveraging the skills of group members, we aim to deeply understand these businesses, particularly focusing on how they develop long-term valuable benefits for their customers. Each year, we plan to evaluate around seven businesses to identify opportunities where our valuation exceeds the market price. A successful outcome is defined as achieving a compound annual growth rate (CAGR), including dividends, of 10% over a decade.
Meeting Type/Venue:	Meetings are in-person in a pub near to Waterloo station in London.
Meeting Frequency/Timing:	Meetings are bi-monthly on a Monday from 10:45am to 4:30pm. Members are expected to also pay for their own lunch which secures the group free use of a private room in the pub. The cost is expected to be £35-40 per person, per meeting, in addition to your SIGnet membership fee.

Group description:	Our focus is on UK listed, high dividend yield individual stocks, although high yield investment trusts/REITS which are of interest to members will also be covered. This group is suitable for members with existing fundamental investing experience (at least 2 years), with a keen interest in discussing in some detail the underlying business, financial performance and future prospects of individual income stock ideas.
Meeting Type/Venue:	Meetings are held online.
Meeting Frequency/Timing:	Meetings are held every 6 weeks from 4pm to 6pm on a Monday.

Group description:	A welcoming group open to all types of investors. Typical meeting content is to have a deep dive presentation on a topic selected by the participants and a session on buy/ sell/ key lessons learnt last month.
Meeting Type/Venue:	In person at a friendly pub close to Piccadilly Circus
Meeting Frequency/Timing:	Monthly during the evening on the first Wednesday of the month.

Group description:	Our group is a broad church that contains investors of varying experience. Our members’ backgrounds are diverse and include corporate banking, engineering, teaching and the leisure industry. We generally pick a discussion topic for every meeting, e.g. housebuilders or the defence industry, and members are invited to research and discuss different aspects or companies within that industry. We also discuss stocks and investment trusts that we have bought, sold or are interested in and the reasons behind our decisions, and try to make sense of the ever changing investment environment. Discussions are robust and challenging but we are a friendly and approachable group who welcome investors of all levels – we just ask that you contribute, at whatever level you can.
Meeting Type/Venue:	Our meetings are held in a private room at a nice pub near to South Ealing tube station (Piccadilly Line), not far from Ealing Broadway (District, Central and Elizabeth Line).
Meeting Frequency/Timing:	We meet every 2 months, usually on a Wednesday morning at 11am.