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Unanswered Questions at Eleco

Post Date: May 22, 2021

I received an unhelpful response to a question today (19th May) from Eleco (ELCO). I have been a shareholder for some time in this construction software company. The company announced on the 26th of April that it had received a requisition notice that covered resolutions to reappoint two directors, that all directors stand for re-election at future AGMs and that the remuneration committee report be approved. It was certainly unusual that such resolutions were not on the AGM agenda on the 6th ...

Woodford Claims and the Financial Ombudsman Service – Update 19 May

Post Date: May 19, 2021

We (Boz Michalowska from Leigh Day and me) met with the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) on 7th May. They have received 549 claims so far relating to Woodford, Link, Hargreaves and IFAs. They have resolved 3 at final decision stage and these were simple cases against IFAs. We were given no evidence to suggest that the FOS route is likely to have a quick nor successful resolution. ShareSoc cannot give financial advice and individuals must of course make their own decisions. ShareSoc ...

Voting Against Directors at Greggs and MAV4

Post Date: May 14, 2021

Greggs (GRG) held their Annual General Meeting today. This was a “closed” meeting but with no electronic access provided. Bearing in mind the size of the company, it seems unreasonable that they could not have provided shareholder access. But I note that the votes reported show that several directors received substantial votes against. For example Ian Durant at 4.8% and Sandra Turner at 7.7%. I wonder why? There were also substantial numbers of votes withheld but no explanation has been given. One advantage ...

AIM market statistics

Post Date: May 13, 2021

by Cliff Weight, Sharesoc Director. Allenby have just published this very informative review of AIM: http://www.allenbycapital.com/research_1214_2120899233.pdf which contains many interesting statistics. The AIM market is at the same level it was 20 years ago, but the journey between has been very volatile. However the last 5 years, with the exception of last March's blip, has been most encouraging. It may be that fewer scandals than in the past have occurred. However ShareSoc is still campaigning hard to get better regulation of the AIM ...

Restoring Trust in Audit and Corporate Governance

Post Date: May 9, 2021

As it’s Friday afternoon with not much happening, and I have completed my latest complaint about the time it’s taking to complete a SIPP platform transfer, I decided to have a look at the public consultation on “Restoring Trust in Audit and Corporate Governance” from the BEIS Department. This is a quite horrendous consultation on the Government’s proposals to improve audit standards and director behaviour as foretold in the Kingman and Brydon reviews, with proposals for a new regulatory body (ARGA). That’s ...