Small shareholders renew bid to make RBS a better run company

Press release 108 – Small shareholders renew bid to make RBS a better run company

RBS Shareholders Requisition Shareholder Resolution for a Shareholder Committee.

Over 100 shareholders in the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) have requisitioned a resolution to install a “Shareholder Committee” at the company, which will include shareholder representatives, to improve the corporate governance and shareholder engagement at RBS.
RBS will now have to put this proposal to a vote at their Annual General Meeting (AGM) in May 2019.
ShareSoc and UKSA have supported and coordinated this and delivered the resolution and a large bundle of associated requisition forms to RBS’s London office on Tuesday 18 December at 10.00am.
Third year of campaign.

Why are ShareSoc and UKSA doing this?

Mark Northway, ShareSoc Chairman said “Shareholders deserve a new approach; one with greater involvement and more effective input from them as ultimate owners. RBS, given its track record and consequent taxpayer support, should now be leading from the front in governance matters.”

Cliff Weight, Director of ShareSoc who has coordinated the campaign said “The current method of engaging between shareholders and listed UK companies doesn’t work. We think our proposal at RBS is a good starting point and an example for others to follow.”

A similar resolution was submitted to the 2018 AGM. There were 604.99 million votes in support of the proposal, representing 5.5% of the non-UKGI votes cast. UK Government Investments(UKGI), which represented 75.3% of the votes cast on this matter, chose to vote against the resolution, thereby deciding the outcome.

Cliff Weight pictured today (18.12.18) outside RBS HQ delivering the shareholder resolution.

The UKGI position at the 2018 AGM was a disappointment to the campaign, and arguably inconsistent with the entity’s mandate. The Government wishes to reduce and eventually eliminate its stake in RBS, and any means of increasing engagement with shareholders should be embraced with enthusiasm. Increased shareholder oversight through a Shareholder Committee can only make the shares more attractive to prospective investors.

5.5% support for the resolution was a significant outcome in light of the negative recommendation from the Board of RBS. It was a truly remarkable result.

ShareSoc and UKSA recognise that it takes time to influence the thinking of the Board, of UKGI and of institutional shareholders. The first vote on this matter was held at the 2018 AGM. We can expect increased support for the proposal at the 2019 meeting. Change does not happen overnight.

For further information please contact:

Cliff Weight, Director, ShareSoc

ShareSoc, the UK Individual Shareholders Society

ShareSoc is the UK’s largest retail shareholder organisation acting in all areas of the UK stock market with over 4,000 members. See www.sharesoc.org. It produced a report on Shareholder Committees in 2011. See https://www.sharesoc.org/Shareholder%20Committees.pdf

UKSA, The UK Shareholders’ Association

UKSA is the oldest shareholder campaigning organisation in the UK. UKSA is a not for profit company that represents and supports shareholders who invest in the UK stock market. See www.uksa.org.uk.

FURTHER INFORMATION ON THE CAMPAIGN

Further details of the ShareSoc/UKSA RBS Shareholder Committee Campaign are at https://www.sharesoc.org/campaigns/rbs/

Post Date: December 18, 2018

Group description:	This group is open to all levels of investor and is particularly popular because it meets after working hours in central London. The meeting usually has a presentation or group discussion on aspects of investing and also runs a Buys & Sells session which gives everyone the chance to see what the other group members are buying or selling and why.
Meeting Type/Venue:	The venue is near Victoria Station in a pub where the group also enjoy a meal from a typical pub menu.
Meeting Frequency/Timing:	This group meets in the evening in London. It is a face to face group that meets every third Tuesday in the month from 6.30pm to 9pm.

Group description:	This group is for those interested in investing in the USA. It is open to all investors with a special interest in this area and all levels of experience are welcome. A typical meeting will have a discussion on a particular market issue or a presentation by a member or external speaker on a subject of interest to the group. All members are expected to play a part in presenting and to take an active role in making the group of value to all its members.
Meeting Type/Venue:	As a specialist group with a wide geographic spread of members, our meetings are held on zoom.
Meeting Frequency/Timing:	Meetings are monthly and are held on the third Tuesday in the month from 11-12.30PM.

Group description:	This group was set up as a forum to discuss companies in detail, each company is introduced by a member and discussion may last one or two hours. Membership is by invitation only.
Meeting Type/Venue:	The group meets at a venue in Waterloo, London.
Meeting Frequency/Timing:	Meetings are from 11.00 until 16.30 and at two month intervals.

Group description:	This group was set up as a forum to discuss companies in detail, each company is introduced by a member and discussion may last one or two hours. Membership is by invitation only.
Meeting Type/Venue:	The group meets at a venue in Waterloo, London.
Meeting Frequency/Timing:	Meetings are from 11.00 until 16.30 and at two month intervals.

Group description:	Group focused on active investing, primarily in small / medium cap UK equities.
Meeting Type/Venue:	Zoom.
Meeting Frequency/Timing:	Monthly on Saturdays at 10am.

Group description:	Our group is a broad church that contains investors of varying age and experience. We discuss stocks and investment trusts that we have bought, sold or are interested in and the reasons behind our decisions, and try to make sense of the ever changing investment environment. Our members backgrounds are diverse and include corporate banking, engineering, teaching and the leisure industry. Discussions are robust and challenging but tend to be to be informal, and do not generally involve agendas, presentations or detailed preparation.
Meeting Type/Venue:	Our meetings are held on Zoom, although we are all based around London so try to meet centrally for lunch from time to time.
Meeting Frequency/Timing:	We meet every 2 months, generally midweek at 10.30am.

Group description:	Experienced investors who have been members many years and newer members wanting to learn about investing. Members discuss portfolio content and reasons why they have certain assets and investments. Buys and sells discussed along with interesting shares being considered along with current issues in the market of local or international influence.
Meeting Type/Venue:	Physical face to face meetings held in a central pub in Easton in Gordano.
Meeting Frequency/Timing:	Usually monthly to 6 weekly, mid week 12 noon to 2pm with lunch.

Group description:	We are a relatively small group, but have a wide range of interests so always start every meeting with a discussion about world issues and the “investing environment” generally. We always discuss individual members market activity and any interesting opportunities on their watchlists. There is currently a lot of expertise in the small cap value area of the market within the group.
Meeting Type/Venue:	Our preference is for a physical meeting and a hotel in Meriden (Coventry) is the usual location, but we do have on-line meetings when weather and/or health issues make that the most suitable option. We rotate the chair and this is agreed at the previous meeting.
Meeting Frequency/Timing:	Our preference is to meet every 4 weeks on a Thursday evening, but the exact details are agreed at the previous meeting.

Group description:	The Options group has been meeting monthly for some 20+ years and new members who are either trading or interested in trading options are always welcome. Our members trade options predominately on both UK and USA shares, indices, currencies and commodities.
Meeting Type/Venue:	Prior to Covid all monthly meetings were at a west London golf club, close to an underground station, where we had a one course lunch prior to our meetings in a private room. Since Covid all meetings have been via video and some new members have joined who are too far from west London to meet face to face. However, it is intended that future meetings will be both in person and via video link.
Meeting Frequency/Timing:	Meetings are monthly, on the 4th Wednesday of each month, normally from 12:30 to 2:30 and sometimes run over.

Small shareholders renew bid to make RBS a better run company

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