Shareholder Rights

ShareSoc and UKSA Response to Digitisation Task Force Interim report

  In this article we highlighted the significance of the interim report issued by Sir Douglas Flint on behalf of the Digitisation Taskforce (DT) and our concerns about it.  After careful deliberation, ShareSoc and UKSA have now submitted this response to Sir Douglas. Special thanks are due to Mohammed Amin, who co-ordinated our joint response.  We express concern that the proposals in the interim report do not fulfil the DT’s terms of reference. In particular, they do not ensure that the rights of current ...
Post Date: September 14, 2023 Read more

Flint Interim Report: A Betrayal?

Background ShareSoc’s Shareholder Rights Campaign has been one of our longest running and most important campaigns. The reason it is so important is that current deficiencies in the rights of beneficial shareholders severely hamper our ability, and that of shareholder action groups generally, to hold company managements to account. This impacts the effectiveness of many of our other campaigns. Visit the campaign page for further details and further explanation of the issues. Since we launched the campaign in 2014, we have made considerable ...
Post Date: August 16, 2023 Read more

People want to attend AGMs in person, so we need to find a balance

This article reflects the opinions of its author, Cliff Weight, and not necessarily those of ShareSoc. We need to kickstart a system of connections for shareholders in our digital age Archie Norman’s opinion piece in the FT 14 July “The bond between British business and society has eroded -We need to kickstart a system of connections for shareholders in our digital age” (subscription required) has clarified his clarion call to modernise the Companies Act. This year, M&S experimented with a digital-only AGM and Archie recognises ...
Post Date: July 20, 2023 Read more

Shareholder Democracy

  Currently, investor campaigns and grass-roots shareholder action groups are obstructed by the barricades that prevent them from communicating with other shareholders. Shareholder contact details increasingly rarely appear on share registers. The fact that the vast majority of individuals’ investments are held via Nominees, means that they become anonymous. They are a company’s beneficial shareholders but they are uncontactable, other than by their broker/platform behind a wall of GDPR rules.  The Shareholder Rights Campaign   ShareSoc has campaigned tirelessly over many years for much more ...
Post Date: June 2, 2023 Read more

Marks and Spencer and ShareSoc write to Business Secretary Kemi Badenoch

Marks and Spencer and ShareSoc have written to Business Secretary The Rt Hon Kemi Badenoch MP urging the Government to change the Companies Act to modernise it to allow electronic (ie digital) communication with and between shareholders; and to allow digital GMs without the need for companies to change their articles. ShareSoc, UKSA and the QCA are the first co-signatories of the OPEN LETTER to the Business Secretary. All members are encouraged to read and sign the petition. Marks and Spencer has teamed up with the Mail ...
Post Date: April 6, 2023 Read more

REX/Retail Book – Retail access to share offerings

  Shareholder Rights are central to ShareSoc’s campaigning activities. Defending pre-emptive rights and the rights of minority shareholders, and ensuring access for individuals to placings on fair terms are areas where we lobby, represent and campaign for the benefit of ShareSoc members and individual investors as a whole.   Primary Bid, in collaboration with the London Stock Exchange, has made huge strides in making IPOs and fund raises more available to retail shareholders. The Treasury is finally putting various initiatives in place following the ...
Post Date: February 14, 2023 Read more

Policy and Campaigns – Progress Update 04 April 2022

Policy and Campaigns – Progress Update 4 April 2022 Since our last update in November 2021 (see page 16 here), we have worked on: 1. Consultation responses and government lobbying 2. Woodford Campaign 3. Voting Guidance and Shareholder Engagement 4. Shareholder Rights/Nominees 5. SVS/ITI 6. FCA liaison 7. FRC, BEIS, etc liaison 8. Campaigns 9. AIM regulation 1. Consultation responses and government lobbying. This continues to be a major area of work, where ShareSoc represents the interests of individual investors. We have submitted responses to: • FRC Endorsement Board – Draft Endorsement Criteria ...
Post Date: April 13, 2022 Read more

Policy and Campaigns – Progress Update 20 Dec 2021

Since Oct 12 (see previous update here), we have worked on: Audit and Governance reform: many members have told us of their concerns about the disasters at Carillion and many others. We view the audit and governance reforms as crucial and have pressed for these to be moved forward as quickly as possible. We are concerned about lobbying to slow down this progress and co-signed a letter to the FT which was published on 12 Nov. 21. Woodford Campaign: ...
Post Date: December 22, 2021 Read more

Policy and Campaigns – Progress Update to 12 October 2021

Since June 14 (see https://www.sharesoc.org/sharesoc-news/policy-and-campaigns-progress-update-14-june-2021/  for previous update), ShareSoc's Policy and Campaigns' team have worked on:   Woodford Campaign: Leigh Day have submitted their claim. They now have 11,000 claimants and another 3,000 registered, but yet to sign their Leigh Day agreement. We held a very successful webinar on 30 Sept with 942 registrants. ShareSoc’s Woodford Campaign now has over 1,500 members, which enables us to lobby strongly for regulatory change and to hold to account those who have done wrong.  ...
Post Date: October 14, 2021 Read more

Policy and Campaigns – Progress Update to 30 April 2021

In April 2021, we worked on: Woodford Campaign: Leigh Day are the only claim with insurance and funding in place. Harcus Parker have funding but do not have ATE insurance. RGL have neither insurance nor funding (other than funding for an initial step). Leigh Day (whose claim ShareSoc have endorsed) now have c 10,000 claimants registered and are the leading claim. Sirius Minerals Shareholder Group, Sirius Claim Group: A 20 page review of the evidence was finalised in April ...
Post Date: May 3, 2021 Read more