A trawl of executive contracts reveals that million-pound pay and bonus deals are merely pocket money for the bosses of Britain’s FTSE 100, as they enjoy special pension arrangements, second-home allowances and most day-to-day costs covered by their companies. What becomes apparent after a trawl of contracts provided by proxy-voting group Manifest is that […]
Read MoreBreaking news reports from Sky this morning suggested that Sir Fred Goodwin was considering repaying part of his controversial £703,000 per annum pension. Sky’s Business Editor Jeff Randall said: “I understand that the Government, through UKFI and the Royal Bank of Scotland, are preparing a statement saying that Sir Fred Goodwin will be making a […]
Read MoreDCC plc have become the first Irish-incorporated company listed on the Irish Stock Exchange to include an advisory say-on-pay resolution on the agenda for the annual general meeting. In proposing the resolution, proposed on a voluntary basis as a management-sponsored proposal, the Company has set a new gold standard for Irish companies to aspire to […]
Read MoreJapan is famed in the West for many stereotype images, cherry blossom, salary men, overcrowded commuter trains and for those of us in the world of governance, a chaotic proxy season. But back to the commuter crush. Many Japanese women choose to commute in female-only carriages during rush hour to avoid being groped by men. Following a surge of arrests (2,000 […]
Read MoreFormer Northern Rock shareholders are challenging the UK government’s nationalisation terms in the British courts claiming that the Treasury’s conditions will result in little or no compensation. The case, which is expected to run for three days, is being brought by SRM Global, RAB Capital, and a group of private shareholders with the support of Legal & […]
Read MoreUS Congressman Barney Frank’s Financial Services Committee has started its deliberations on the problem of executive pay. A total of eight witnesses including former Chief Accountant, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Lynn Turner and noted academics Lucien Bebchuk and Kevin Murphy were on hand to present their testimony. A say on pay and access to […]
Read MoreThe IASB has been defending it’s work to politicians, again. International Accounting Standards Board chairman Sir David Tweedie was called to account this week at a meeting of European ministers in Luxembourg. Discussing the IASB’s review of the controversial fair-value and impairment rules in the wake of the banking crisis, Sir David said that he recognised the […]
Read MoreUS investors concerned about the delays in the official announcements of voting results are not waiting for the SEC or New York Stock Exchange to make new rules but are taking matters into their own hands. Just as in Europe, best practice about voting results disclosure is extremely variable but proposals submitted by the New […]
Read MoreTimes City diarist Martin Waller asks “Is this the most spectacularly incompetent annual meeting ever?” referring to DataCash plc’s 10th June AGM which sought authorities for share issues and dis-application of pre-emption rights significantly outside the best practice guidelines. Martin tells us that “The company was forced to issue a shamefaced note yesterday admitting that […]
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