Moves to regulate proxy research would undermine relationships with shareholders, compromise research integrity and eliminate competition say global investors. Proposed regulation contradicts moves to improve objectivity in sell-side space. The US House of Representatives’ Finance Services Committee last week passed a series of Bills which seek to repeal large chunks of the Dodd-Frank Act which was passed in […]
Read MoreThe US Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) has announced that its rules to improve the transparency of the audit by disclosing the names of audit engagement partners, as well as information about other firms that participate in the audits, were approved by the Securities and Exchange Commission. Audit firms are required to file with the PCAOB […]
Read MoreAn international anti-corruption summit in London this week has led to an international communiqué in which countries have signed up to taking action to address corruption and reduce financial secrecy which hurts developing countries and their people. Participants also produced their own statements of the actions they were taking in their countries. In his closing speech […]
Read MoreShareSoc, which represents individual investors, raised concerns about the regulation of the AIM smaller company market at the recent London Stock Exchange (LSE) AGM. The organisation’s director, Mark Bentley, accused the LSE of failing in its function as operator and regulator of the AIM market. Speaking at LSE’s AGM Bentley said, “Why does the LSE not do […]
Read MoreThe 2016 AGM season started with major defeats for two FTSE100 companies. Last Thursday (14th April) oil giant BP and medical equipments supplier, Smith & Nephew saw their remuneration reports rejected by shareholders at their AGMs. At the BP AGM there was a 59% vote against the remuneration report and at Smith & Nephew 53% of shareholder votes […]
Read MorePharmaceutical giant, GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), has been fined £37.6m by the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA)for making illegal payments to companies to delay their rival medicines entering the British market. Smaller fines were also imposed on the other pharmaceutical companies it paid. The CMA’s investigation found that GSK, the supplier of anti-depressant paroxetine it sold under the […]
Read MoreInvestment bank Morgan Stanley has agreed a $3.2 billion settlement with the New York Attorney General, Eric Schneiderman over the bank’s deceptive practices, in respect of residential mortgage-backed securities (RMBS ), leading up to the 2008 financial crisis. The investigation found that during 2006 the bank deceived investors about the quality of the mortgage loans it securitised and sold […]
Read MoreEnsuring women get promoted to senior positions and receive higher bonuses should form part of the strategy to ensure that the gap between the pay of women and men is closed, according to a report produced by Deloitte and sponsored by “Think, Act, Report“, a UK government campaign. Following an extensive consultation last year the UK […]
Read MoreThe US financial regulator, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), has fined global agri-business firm Monsanto $80 million for violating accounting rules and misstating company earnings in relation to its flagship product Roundup. The company has also agreed to retain an independent compliance consultant in its settlement with the SEC. Three accounting and sales executives have also agreed […]
Read MoreTesco has been told to introduce significant changes to practices and systems after the Groceries Code Adjudicator, Christine Tacon, found the supermarket giant had seriously breached a legally-binding Groceries Supply Code of Practice (the Code) to protect groceries suppliers. Tacon’s investigation covered the period 25 June 2013 to 5 February 2015 and in that time she found that […]
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