Top pay under fire at Standard Chartered bank April 29, 2012 STANDARD Chartered is heading for a bust-up over how much it pays its top staff, after investor advisory group Pirc advised its members to vote down the bank’s remuneration report. The bank plans to pay out $92.1m (£56.6m) to its top 13 staff, which includes five board members, for last year. Pirc is thought to [...]
UK restaurant sector to strike £13bn by 2015 April 29, 2012 WHILE Britons continue to tighten their belts in hard economic times, one luxury that few of us seem to be prepared to give up is eating out. A new report by Allegra Strategies and Barclays forecasts that sales across the UK’s branded restaurants are set to grow by 22 per cent to £13.6bn by 2015 [...]
Glencore float fuels wealth of UK’s super rich April 29, 2012 THE wealth of Britain’s richest people, including a series of investors in Glencore, jumped by nearly five per cent to a record £414bn last year, according to new research. The combined assets of the 1,000 most affluent people rose 4.7 per cent, according to the Sunday Times Rich List, despite the nation’s plunge back into [...]
RAPID responses April 29, 2012 Holiday ending [Re: What course should George Osborne take, Thursday] A temporary VAT cut isn’t the answer. It’ll lead to a temporary surge in consumer spending, before falling back when the rate is restored. Similarly, a temporary cut in NIC isn’t a good enough reason for an employer to take on staff. They need to [...]
Barclays shareholders revolt with a quarter voting against executive pay deals April 27, 2012 Barclays chairman Marcus Agius (pictured) has apologised to shareholders for badly communicating its pay policy to them, and promised higher dividends in future in an attempt to take the sting out of a row over the bank’s remuneration policy. More than a quarter of shareholders voted against remuneration packages including a multi-million pound deal for [...]
Credit Suisse hit by shareholder anger over pay April 27, 2012 Almost a third of Credit Suisse shareholders rejected the bank’s pay plan on Friday and UK rival Barclays was braced for a similar revolt as investors vented their fury at executive pay deals and called for a bigger slice of profits. Credit Suisse said 31.6 pct of investors who voted opposed the bank’s remuneration plan, [...]
D-Day for Diamond April 26, 2012 BARCLAYS boss Bob Diamond will be hoping that he has managed to head off a major shareholder rebellion today by unveiling a bumper set of first-quarter results. The bank has been preparing for 10 to 15 per cent of its investors to vote against its remuneration package in today’s shareholder meeting, although there were suggestions yesterday [...]
Shareholder activism is vital for a properly functioning City April 26, 2012 OWNERS of publicly listed companies need to behave as proprietors. They shouldn’t micromanage firms in which they invest – that is their executives’ jobs – but they should ratify some key decisions, including the pay of their top staff. In his 1970 polemic Exit, Voice and Loyalty, Albert O Hirschman explained that members of any [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING April 26, 2012 FINANCIAL TIMES NEW SFO BOSS VOWS TO STAY RELEVANT The incoming director of the Serious Fraud Office has promised to pursue a more aggressive crime-fighting strategy, saying he will investigate “significant strategic targets” suspected of committing the most complex financial crime and overseas corruption. INVESTORS TURN HEAT ON MAN CHIEF Leading shareholders of Man Group, [...]
Diamond is fighting the pay row with rearguard political action April 26, 2012 DO not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance,” Investec analyst Ian Gordon wrote to investors before Barclays chief Bob Diamond unveiled a strong rise in profits yesterday. Thus far, this year, Diamond is on course to deliver. Or, in Bob’s more prosaic American language: “Execute, execute, execute.” Having set ambitious returns [...]