ShareSoc Blog
The ShareSoc blog provides news and informal commentary from directors, members and other contributors. Entries reflect the personal views of the authors, which do not necessarily reflect ShareSoc’s formal position. Contributors may hold shares in the companies mentioned. Nothing in this blog should be viewed as financial advice. You may submit comments on blog posts, but ShareSoc reserves the right to remove or edit inappropriate or defamatory submissions.
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An article by ShareSoc member Michael Taylor
In light of the recent Burford Capital judgement that my friend Paul de Gruchy has written about in detail here, this has led to much debate about shorting, some of which I hope to add to here in this article.
Is shorting bad? Yes and no. It can be.
A broker who goes short on a stock then offers to conduct an equity placing for the same company in order to close their position is clearly blatant ...
I am looking forward to this virtual shareholder event and have registered.
RBS had a closed AGM (due to Covid) and promised this event for retail shareholders so they could ask the questions they would have liked to have asked at the AGM.
Now is your chance to listen to RBS management and ask your questions.
To secure your place, please register by 10th July here if you know your SRN (shareholder registration number which you can find on your share certificate). You will then receive a confirmation ...
Forterra plc held their meeting on 14 May 2020 and resolutions were passed by way of a show of hands, and yet, the provisions for the meeting were as follows:
“As a result, shareholders are not permitted to attend the AGM in person and will not be admitted. Questions can be submitted to your Board by e-mail to investors@forterra.co.ukand it is our intention to arrange a conference call with our Chief Executive and Chief Financial officers once the current crisis has passed.”
So that ...
Two Cheers for the FCA in the Case of Redcentric
Two cheers for the FCA: they have achieved a positive outcome for shareholders affected by the case, and have been pragmatic, albeit after a very long time. It is also good to see the other objective of our campaign potentially achieved - of prosecuting individuals for their alleged misdemeanors. Such actions are essential to deter others from criminal activity.
Background
Redcentric has been an extraordinary case. They key issues at the time when serious ...
ShareSoc has been working hard to continue to offer opportunities to hear from and interact with executives of quoted and listed companies, despite the constraints Covid-19 has been placing on all our lives.
Therefore, instead of our usual monthly “Growth Company Seminars”, we now offer online webinars with companies that may be of interest to investors. These have proved very popular, not only eliminating the transmission risks of in person meetings, but also offering the convenience of attending without leaving your own ...
Several companies in which I hold shares are proposing to adopt new Articles of Association at their Annual General Meetings. These typically are amended to enable the holding of “virtual”, i.e. electronic ones, or “hybrid” meetings where a physical venue (or multiple ones) are also used. They can do that legally at present under the emergency regulations put in place by the Government but they are clearly anticipating a more common use of such capabilities now that everyone is more practised ...
It was initially pleasing to see FTSE250 company, Biffa plc, recognise its retail shareholders, by making an offer though PrimaryBid alongside its recent institutional placing.
As ever, the Prospectus Regulation meant that the retail offer was limited to €8m (otherwise a costly prospectus would have to be issued to make a larger offer to retail investors). Pretty paltry compared to the £100m institutional placing.
I applied for the retail offer and was disappointed that my application was scaled back by nearly 50%. Disappointment ...
I “attended” the on-line Annual General Meeting of Learning Technologies Group (LTG) today. Full members of ShareSoc can find my report on that meeting here: https://www.sharesoc.org/agm-reports/learning-technologies-agm-report-2020/
Another recent AGM of an AIM company was that of bowling alley operator Ten Entertainment (TEG) for which I hold all of 50 shares. I sold almost all my holding before they had to close all their venues. This was another company that did a placing recently but it is hardly surprising in this case that ...
Those who were Lloyds TSB shareholders back in 2009 when they merged with HBOS to form Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) thought it was bad deal at the time and it certainly turned out to be so. HBOS had many dubious loans to property companies and when the banking crisis arose they were in deep financial difficulty. There seemed very little benefit in the merger for Lloyds shareholders
Subsequently a legal action was launched by the disgruntled Lloyds TSB shareholders which was lost ...
We have written to the FRC, again, about AGMs. Our note, written by Peter Parry, also contained some detailed analysis by UKSA member Phil Clarke (below). The email was written before the FRC published its latest guidance note, which is available here https://www.frc.org.uk/getattachment/e3224310-c39c-4b48-b56b-cc703936beeb/Updated-QA-AGMs-Best-Practice-Final.pdf
To Jen Sisson, FRC Chief of Staff and Company-Investor Engagement
Dear Jen,
I am forwarding an email thread about AGMs initiated by UKSA member Phil Clarke. Much of it is already known to the FRC following Phil's contact with Sara at ...
