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RBS, Shareholder Committees, LTIPs and Weir

Post Date: March 20, 2018

It is good news that the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) have accepted a requisition for a resolution on a Shareholder Committee at their forthcoming AGM. ShareSoc and UKSA, who jointly promoted this under the leadership of Cliff Weight have issued a press release confirming the resolution has finally been accepted after some legal evasions to try and avoid it. Shareholder Committees are a way to improve corporate governance at companies and ensure that the views of shareholders (and potentially other stakeholders) ...

Conviviality

Post Date: March 18, 2018

It is a great name for a bar, but is a fancy name good for a quoted conglomerate plc? The shares were suspended on 14 March. The FCA and FRC need to look at this and asset managers need to think again why they missed the warning signs! Shares in the wholesaler and distributor of alcohol and impulse are now suspended as it considers the anticipated impact on its funding position of £30m due to HMRC. This business has looked questionable since ...

Black Box Governance Thinking

Post Date: March 12, 2018

Yet another board blows up. Why does this happen time and time again? The problem, in my experience, is one of boardroom culture. With some directors being so set in their ways, they are unable to learn from their mistakes. These issues are brilliantly explained by Matthew Syed in his book, Black Box Thinking. Syed explains why Most People Never Learn from Their Mistakes–But Some Do. Nobody wants to fail. But in highly complex organisations, success can happen only when we confront our ...

The Dangers of Share Tipping, Alliance Trust and AIM Regulation

Post Date: March 9, 2018

Share tipping is a mug’s game. Both for the tipsters and their readers. More evidence of this was provided yesterday. Investors Chronicle issued their “Tips of the Week” via email during the day. It included a “BUY” recommendation on Conviviality (CVR). Unfortunately soon after, the company issued a trading statement which said the forecast EBITDA for the current year (ending 30th April) will be 20% below market expectations. Conviviality is a wholesaler, distributor and retailer of alcohol and it seems there was ...

Beaufort and the Regulators: US Prosecutors Expose Wide Ranging Scam

Post Date: March 3, 2018

News began to emerge yesterday of problems at broker Beaufort Securities. Firstly, the FCA posted this RNS stating that brokerages Beaufort Securities Limited and Beaufort Asset Clearing Services Limited had been placing into insolvency, must cease all regulated activities, and that administrators had been appointed who would seek to protect client assets. Not long after, this indictment by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) came to light, alleging market manipulation in the US by Beaufort Securities and the individual Peter Kyriacou. ...