City revolt hits more top chiefs May 8, 2012 THE SHAREHOLDER Spring yesterday claimed its highest-profile victim yet as Aviva chief executive Andrew Moss quit the insurance giant following investor protests. His resignation came on the same day that William Hill boss Ralph Topping avoided losing a vote on his remuneration package by the narrowest of margins. Moss, who had led the firm since [...]
CITY MOVES WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS May 8, 2012 Barclays Sharon Quinlan has been appointed head of structured property, London within Barclays’s debt finance team. She joins from Bank of Ireland, where she was head of business banking and responsible for running its UK commercial banking franchise. She takes over from Richard Payne, who will stay on as a consultant. PMB Holdings Ed Jones [...]
FTSE slumps to fresh 2012 low May 8, 2012 A slump in heavyweight mining stocks drove Britain’s benchmark share index down to its lowest level since the start of 2012 yesterday, after Greece’s commitment to bailout pledges was put into question – and dealers said further falls were likely. The FTSE 100 index ended down 100.51 points, or 1.8 per cent, at 5,554.55 points [...]
William Hill board wins knife edge vote over pay May 8, 2012 Shareholders in William Hill, Britain’s biggest bookmaker, joined a growing rebellion over executive pay, with almost half voting against a £1.2m retention bonus for the chief executive. William Hill said on Tuesday 49.9 per cent of proxy votes were against the pay package, and 50.1 per cent for. Chairman Gareth Davis declared the resolution passed [...]
Struggling miners dent FTSE May 8, 2012 The FTSE 100 dipped this morning as political uncertainty sent shockwaves across the Eurozone while heavyweight commodity stock were dented. A win by socialist Francois Hollande in the French presidential election and chaos in Greece – where no party gained enough seats to form a government – served to sap investor confidence. In London the [...]
Aviva boss quits after pay revolt May 8, 2012 Insurer Aviva, hit last week by one of the biggest pay revolts ever suffered by a British company, said its chief executive Andrew Moss had stepped down with immediate effect. The group said he would be replaced by Chairman Designate John McFarlane in the interim. Moss had told the company that he believed it was [...]
Shareholders are on the money in scrutinising pay May 7, 2012 AS LITTLE as a decade ago, few City-watchers would have cared all that much about the April AGM deluge, but not any more. In rising markets, short-term investors and speculators could ignore the niceties of shareholder democracy and vote with their feet. Several crashes later and investor uncertainty is manifesting itself through the ballot box, [...]
Easter eager to lock horns with Powell and guarantee top spot May 3, 2012 Q What happened the last time you played Sale in the Aviva Premiership? A I was at the World Cup last time but I know we won 48-41. I won money off Mark Cueto as we had a bet on the outcome but he still hasn’t paid up so I’ll ask him to show me [...]
REVOLUTION IN THE CITY May 3, 2012 SHAREHOLDERS yesterday unleashed their wrath on leading blue chip businesses with an unprecedented wave of rebellion against executive pay deals. Businesses including Aviva, UBS and Inmarsat suffered substantial rebellions against remuneration packages at AGMs held yesterday. And last night Trinity Mirror boss Sly Bailey unexpectedly handed in her notice as leading shareholders prepared to mount a [...]
City pay revolt: Long live this most capitalist of revolutions May 3, 2012 OFF with their heads: the message from shareholders is becoming louder and angrier by the day. “Listen to us”, they are rightly telling company boards, “you work for us. We pay you. Stop behaving as if you own the place.” And that’s exactly the point: CEOs are merely shareholders’ paid hands. The real capitalists are [...]