Corporate Governance

Corporate Governance News

This section on Corporate Governance provides investors with the latest topical news plus some informal comments and insights from ShareSoc’s directors and other contributors.

Government To Review Share Buy-Backs

The BEIS Department of the Government has announced a review of share buy-backs. That’s where the company buys its own shares in the market, a practice that used to be illegal but is now very widespread. Business Secretary Greg Clark said: “…there are concerns that some companies may be trying to artificially inflate executive pay by buying back their own shares. This review will examine how share buyback schemes are used and whether any action is required to prevent them from being ...

RBS Campaign Update 9 – Progress as at 13/12/2017

If you have not yet joined the campaign you can still do so, please click here to download the forms https://www.sharesoc.org/rbs-agm-2018-requisitions/ . EMAIL 1 sent out on 24 Nov 2017 and 80 new campaign members recruited. Resolution and Request for discussion finalised. Click here to see them. EMAIL 2 sent out on 9 Dec 2017 to all campaign members asking them to sign the forms and return them to us. 30 received so far. We need at least 100 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

Round up on recent FRC and FCA developments

Our event at the FRC on 21 November, when the FRC will explain what they do and listen to members’ feedback, is a sellout and we are now operating a waiting list. Below is a roundup of recent FRC and FCA developments, to inform attendees and help guide questioning. FRC says corporate reporting could still be improved In its annual review of corporate reporting, the FRC said disclosures by large listed UK companies are generally good but detailed explanations and clarity could still ...

Johnston Press, Blancco Technology and Intercede

Companies in difficulties always make for interesting reading, and here’s a brace of them. Firstly Johnston Press (JPR), a publisher of newspapers. That includes many local ones but also the Yorkshire Post and the Scotsman who cover national business news – the latter is particularly good on the travails of those big banks registered in Scotland such as RBS and Lloyds. The company had more operating losses than revenue last year, debt is way too high and dividends have been non-existent for ...

City of London Group – exemplary transparency, exemplary culture

DISCLOSURE - I hold shares in CLIG and you should consider my comments in that light and with appropriate scepticism – DYOR! On 23rd October I attended CLIG's AGM and Investor Afternoon. These were well advertised, at convenient times and locations and open to all investors - as ShareSoc encourages all businesses to do. Roger Lawson and UKSA's Gerald Roberts joined me at the AGM, and Gerald for the Investor afternoon. A key issue which I raised at the AGM was succession planning, ...

ADVFN Results and More on Lloyds

ADVFN Plc (AFN) published their results for the year to June yesterday. I have a very small holding in the company (acquired for reasons I won’t go into). ADVFN are information providers on the stock market, primarily to private investors. Many people monitor their bulletin boards although like many such boards frequented by private investors, they are somewhat of a curate’s egg so far as serious or sophisticated investors are concerned. But they certainly have a large following – they say they ...

Rbs Snub to Chris Philp MP and Next Steps

Gavin Palmer was at the Tory Party Conference and in discussion with Chris Philp, MP, where it emerged that Chris had written three times to RBS asking Sir Howard Davies, RBS Chairman why they were objecting to our shareholder resolution for a Shareholder Committee. Regular readers will be aware that it was Chris who wrote an excellent paper covering Shareholder Committees in September 2016 which received wide publicity. See http://highpaycentre.org/files/HPC_42_WEB_amend_-_Restoring_Responsible_Ownership.pdf Despite Chris’ best efforts, RBS rebuffed his questions and refused to share their legal ...