The UK Shareholders Association (UKSA) has formed a group to represent the interests of ordinary shareholders in Northern Rock amid accusations that the bank failed to make required disclosures to investors about the severe financial difficulties it faced. UKSA believes many shareholders were persuaded to invest in the company in recent months as a result […]
Read MoreThe US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has charged four more former executives of Nortel Networks, the communications company, with accounting fraud. The regulator is accusing former vice-presidents of Nortel’s optical, wireline, wireless and enterprise business units of manipulating reserves to manage the company’s earnings. Charges have already been brought against Nortel’s former chief executive, […]
Read MoreNearly 50% of the London Stock Exchange (LSE) has been purchased by rival sovereign backed firms from the Middle East. Borse Dubai and US exchange Nasdaq have reached an agreement that will allow Nasdaq to win control of Scandinavian exchange . In return, Borse Dubai will acquire the majority of Nasdaq’s 31% stake in the […]
Read MoreVernon Sankey has stepped down as chairman of Photo-Me International with immediate effect, prompting the photo booth operator’s principal shareholders to withdraw an EGM requisition seeking his removal. Cycladic Capital and Principle Capital were seeking the immediate removal of both Sankey and the company’s chief executive, Serge Crasnianski. Sankey will be replaced on an interim […]
Read MoreFactors such as new investors and expansion into overseas markets have opened the door to different varieties of fraud, and four out of five companies worldwide have been hit by some form of corporate fraud in the last three years, according to a survey by risk consultancy Kroll. On average, large companies — with annual […]
Read MoreCalPERS, the activist US pension fund, filed nearly double the number of shareholder proposals in 2006/07 as in the previous 12 months. What is more, all of the six CalPERS proposals that appeared on proxy ballots in the first half of 2007 received investor votes averaging over 60%. This includes shareholder support of 77% for […]
Read MoreThe Social Investment Forum (SIF) and the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility have launched a website – www.SaveShareholderRights.org – as part of a campaign to oppose controversial US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) proposals they argue would seriously undermine investor rights. The groups are campaigning against three SEC proposals open for comment until 2 October. […]
Read MoreTop UK companies are increasingly incorporating non-financial factors such as customer satisfaction into executive bonus plans, accountancy firm PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) has found. PwC’s research revealed that the number of companies offering bonus plans based on purely financial measures has halved over the past year, falling from 33% in 2005/06 to 17% in 2006/07. This has […]
Read MorePension funds surveyed by the National Association of Pension Funds (NAPF) are working more closely with the companies they invest in to actively promote corporate governance. More than three quarters of these funds have helped change remuneration packages, board membership or corporate strategy, and eight out of ten funds believe governance standards are continuing to […]
Read MoreNasdaq, the US exchange, wishes to divest its 31% stake in the London Stock Exchange (LSE). Nasdaq built up its stake earlier this year during the course of an unsuccessful takeover bid, and earlier in August backed an LSE/Borsa Italiana merger that will significantly dilute this holding. Nasdaq said that it does not believe the […]
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