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ShareSoc Blog

This blog gives you the latest topical news plus some informal comments on them from ShareSoc’s directors and other contributors. These are the personal comments of the authors and not necessarily the considered views of ShareSoc. The writers may hold shares in the companies mentioned. You can add your own comments on the blog posts, but note that ShareSoc reserves the right to remove or edit comments where they are inappropriate or defamatory.

There is more news given in the News page of our web site and more analysis of news is provided in our monthly newsletter for members – see the Newsletters page.

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Royal Mail Remuneration

I always thought that being a Chief Executive and being paid millions was a 24/7 job. I am amazed the Royal Mail could not recruit somebody from the millions of people who live in the UK. I am very angry that the details of Mr Back's £5.8million payout were buried in note 26 on page 144 of the company's annual report and not explained in the first paragraph of the Remuneration Committee Chair's statement. Hiding the pay of the new Chief ...

Voting at General Meetings, Link Asset Services and CentralNic

CentralNic (CNIC) have announced that the proxy voting forms they sent out to shareholders on the register for their forthcoming General Meeting were invalid as it omitted a signature block. So they have sent them out again. As a shareholder in the company, I spotted the error and simply wrote my name and the date on the bottom of the form and signed it. That should suffice. It is a little known fact that you don’t actually need to use the proxy ...

Duty of Care or Fiduciary Duty to Investors?

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) have published two papers on their approach to consumers (i.e. retail savers/investors in their terminology). These cover whether a new “Duty of Care”, or...

Gavin Darby dodges a bullet at Premier Foods AGM

At the Premier Foods AGM the CEO Gavin Darby survived the "decapitation" attempt with 59% of the votes for his re-election vs 41% against. But its clear that the activist Oasis is not going away any time soon and so the debate about accelerating the reduction of debt with a chosen divestment or two rumbles on. The board are making conciliatory noises and continue to talk to those who attempted the decapitation: "Over recent weeks we have had discussions with a substantial ...

Who Owns IQE? Nominees And Shareholder Rights. IQE Short update

IQE is one of the most shorted shares on the stock market, so it is quite important to know who owns the shares and who is short. However, individual shareholders' rights are lost via the nominee system. IQE reporting is an example. Hargreaves Lansdown, Interactive Investor and Barclays own 6.5%, 4% and 4% respectively of IQE (i.e. 15% in total), according to Cannacord Genuity, who provide the data for the IQE annual report, which states: Substantial interests in shares As at 28 February ...

UK Corporate Governance Code and new Companies (Miscellaneous Reporting) Regulations 2018

On July 16th, 2018 the FRC published its latest revision of the UK Corporate Governance Code, which is in my view shorter, simpler and better. The code can be read here: https://www.frc.org.uk/getattachment/88bd8c45-50ea-4841-95b0-d2f4f48069a2/2018-UK-Corporate-Governance-Code-FINAL.PDF A summary of the main changes is here https://www.frc.org.uk/getattachment/524d4f4b-62df-4c76-926a-66e223ca0893/Key-highlights-of-the-Code.pdf The FRC have also published a report on their consultation about the Code which explains the changes and the arguments for and against specific changes https://www.frc.org.uk/getattachment/90797f4b-37a1-463e-937f-5cfb14dbdcc4/2018-UK-Corporate-Governance-Code-Feedback-Statement-July-2018.pdf The changes to the Code complement the changes announced by Government in June 2018 to the Companies (Miscellaneous Reporting) ...

Investment Platforms Market Study

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) have just published an interim report on their study of “investment platforms”. It makes for very interesting reading. That is particularly so after the revelations from Hardman last week. They reported that the revenue per assets held on the platform from Hargreaves Lansdown (HL) was more than twice that of soon to be listed AJ Bell Youinvest. HL is the gorilla in the direct to consumer platform market with about 40% market share. HL earns £473 ...

RBS AGM result and subsequent publicity

Paul Jackson wrote an in-depth analysis of the RBS Shareholder Committee campaign and the issues raised in the prestigious Investors Chronicle, 22 June 2018 issue, which is read by tens of thousands of investors. We are grateful to Paul and Investors Chronicle for giving us permission to reproduce this article. Click here: https://www.sharesoc.org/blog/shareholder-democracy/whose-company-is-it-anyway/ RBS AGM Result - Shareholder Committee Vote – We did well but it was a wasted opportunity UKGI Votes were 75.3% of those cast. So their vote decided the outcome. 7.8% of ...

FRC Enforcement Video

The FRC is working hard to improve its transparency. Some would say they are not working hard enough and need a much more fundamental review. Recently there has been a marked increase in the number and level of fines they have levied on audit firms and audit partners, which we regard as positive On 12 July 2018, the FRC issued a News Alert about FRC executive Claudia Mortimore discussing the FRC’s enforcement process. In the video clip, Claudia Mortimore discusses how the team approaches ...

Warning to Beaufort Clients

It has come to ShareSoc’s attention that certain claims management companies (CMCs), may approach Beaufort clients, offering to help you recover your assets. We would advise extreme caution if you receive such an approach. The latest information from PwC, as agreed by the creditors’ committee, can be found here: https://www.pwc.co.uk/services/business-recovery/administrations/beaufort/latest-news-and-update.html As you can see from that statement (and the plan summary referred to by it), all bar fewer than 10 individuals with accounts that include cash in excess of £400,000, will have the costs ...
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