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Vested Interests Win a Battle… but We Will Win the War!

Post Date: August 30, 2017

In a speech made in 2016, Theresa May said: ...And I want to see changes in the way that big business is governed. The people who run big businesses are supposed to be accountable to outsiders, to non-executive directors, who are supposed to ask the difficult questions, think about the long-term and defend the interests of shareholders. In practice, they are drawn from the same, narrow social and professional circles as the executive team and – as we have seen time and ...

Another Financial Services Scandal: Broker Fined

Post Date: August 20, 2017

A second Broker that has been fined by the Securities and Exchange Commission for years of committing ADR Securities Violations. This is yet another example of the unacceptable behaviour and bad culture that has pervaded far too many financial services organisations (and arguably still does). In this case Banca IMI Securities Corp issued ADRs even though it did not own the underlying shares. This made it possible for such ADRs to be used for inappropriate short selling or inappropriate profiting around dividend ...

Telit: Warning Signs in the Remuneration Report

Post Date: August 14, 2017

Today the CEO, Cats, has left Telit. Trust between shareholders and the company is fundamental. Cats lied to the company and the company failed to disclose relevant information to its shareholders. Cats was paid $3.37 million in 2016 made up of $1.63m salary and bonus of $1.74m. ShareSoc remuneration guidelines suggest £300k to £500k as a guideline for a company of this size c £250 million turnover. Cats owned 16 million shares and also has share options. So, such a large pay package ...

RBS Shareholder event hijacked by other stakeholder groups

Post Date: August 4, 2017

RBS announced excellent results today (4/8/17) and their share price soared 4% to £2.67 in early trading. For detailed commentary see http://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2017/08/04/rbs-posts-rare-half-year-profit-eyes-amsterdam-move-staff/ . Things are looking better. The RBS...

SAUDI ARAMCO – The LSE Shows Its True Colours

Post Date: August 1, 2017

The debate over the proposed listing of a small proportion (5%) of Saudi Aramco on the LSE continues apace. The recent flurry of news on this topic highlights the...