ShareSoc News

ShareSoc Launches Woodford Campaign

A ShareSoc News item written by ShareSoc Director Cliff Weight Update 1, 19 Nov 2020, SHARESOC LAUNCHES WOODFORD CAMPAIGN  Our primary objectives are: to facilitate communication between Woodford investors to help Woodford investors seek compensation for their losses where possibe to ensure that those who contributed to those losses through action or inaction are held to account to bring about changes in the regulations and regulatory enforcement to ensure this type of scandal does not happen again We are pleased that several legal initiatives have ...

Law Commission Publishes Scoping Paper Re Nominees, etc

The Law Commission have this morning published their scoping paper following their Review of Intermediated Securities. Here are the links Executive Summary (16 pages) Scoping Paper (201 pages) ShareSoc welcome the Law Commission report which clearly highlights the inadequacies of the current system. For far too long the rights of individual shareholders have been ignored. It looks like progress is about to be made. UKSA have commented 'Having looked more closely at both reports, they represent an excellent piece of work by the Law Commission. ...

Progress For SVS Clients

Since our last report on the situation for clients of failed broker SVS Securities, I am pleased to report that there have been significant positive developments. Firstly, ITI Capital has been in contact with ShareSoc and appears willing to work with us to ensure a satisfactory resolution for former clients of SVS. This is a very positive development. According to this news report the FCA has been monitoring the situation too. It is good to hear that the FCA has been fulfilling ...

Stamp Duty review: ShareSoc-UKSA submit joint response to HMRC

A ShareSoc News Item written by Cliff Weight, ShareSoc Policy Director. We have today, 13 Oct 2020, submitted this response to HMRC. Our response is limited to Stamp Duty on shares and OEICS (unit trusts). Our analysis is that: The original rationale for stamp duty (cost of wax seal etc) is not just of historical interest. In this age of electronic transactions, these costs are no longer incurred and there is therefore the original justification for the charge is no longer valid. Stamp Duty ...

Capital Gains Tax review: ShareSoc-UKSA submit joint response to Office of Tax Simplification

A ShareSoc News Item written by Cliff Weight, ShareSoc Policy Director. We have today, 12 Oct 2020, submitted this response to the OTS, CGT-call for Evidence.  Our response is limited to CGT on shares and OEICS (unit trusts). Our analysis is that: CGT is complex. CGT needs to be simplified. CGT is unfair to individual investors in shares versus collectives. CGT inhibits effective risk management. We want to make CGT: Fairer Easier to work out Easier to administer Easier to collect. In detail, we have 3 ...

FRC new report on AGMs and best practices

A ShareSoc News article written by Cliff Weight, Director This is an excellent report. The FRC appear to have taken on board many of the points we raised. I particularly liked the recommendations that investors provide their email address to the company/registrar to facilitate communication; and the description of the purpose of the AGM- The Annual General Meeting (AGM) is an essential governance event for companies and their shareholders. It should provide transparency, accountability and integrity, to company governance and decision-making. It is ...

SVS Special Administration: a Scandal in the Making

I have written previously about the collapse of brokerage SVS Securities, here: https://www.sharesoc.org/blog/insolvency-and-administration/an-update-on-svs-securities/ and here: https://www.sharesoc.org/blog/brokers/another-update-on-the-svs-special-administration/ Since my last post on this topic, things have gone from bad to worse. Not only has the transfer of assets from SVS to a new broker taken an inordinate amount of time, but the choice of broker to receive those assets seems questionable, to say the least. This debacle has been covered by press articles, here: https://citywire.co.uk/wealth-manager/news/svs-client-fury-as-new-broker-fails-to-return-278m/a1390644 and here: https://www.ftadviser.com/your-industry/2020/08/14/svs-clients-plagued-by-delays-at-new-broker/ More recently, ShareSoc has been contacted ...

Update #11, 5 Aug 2020 – Sirius Legal Judgment Published and Implications for Law Commission Review

The judgment of The Hon. Mr Justice Fancourt in the matter of Sirius Minerals plc Court Hearing of 13 March 2020 has now been published and makes reference to ShareSoc's submission, in several places, with paras 5 and 6 being the most important. 5. I have read letters from Mr Cliff Weight of the UK Individual Shareholders Society (ShareSoc). The concerns that he expresses are that the vote at the meeting that agreed to accept the offer of 5.5 pence per share ...

Albion Venture Capital VCT – AGM recommendations

Following a successful engagement led by ShareSoc (Tim Grattan and Cliff Weight led this Campaign) we agreed a compromise with the Directors and agreed to support the new proposals. The annual report has now been published and contains the following description of the way the Board engaged following the 2019 AGM. New management performance incentive At the General Meeting held on 21 August 2019, an ordinary resolution was proposed to approve the changes to the Company’s Management Agreement, as detailed in the circular sent to shareholders on ...

Enhancing Our Webinars

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 ...