Words .....that work

Interesting news from copper miner Kazakhmys, some seven years after one of the first companies from the former Soviet Union pursued a full London listing. Its chairman Vladimir Kim - who is also the largest shareholder - is to stand down (but keep his 28% stake) and make way for an independent candidate.

"I think that now is the right time to hand on the role to a new a...

April has indeed been 'the cruellest month' in the UK - and not only because of the dire weather and complete lack of sunshine - as shareholders appear to have reached the end of their tether with remuneration packages out of line with reality as we know it.

As Sarah Wilson, CEO at Manifest, an investor lobby group put it : "Remuneration is the window to the soul of the company. It objectively measures the links between incentives, behaviour, stratgey and outcomes." I'm not ...

Softly, softly, the fees for chairmen and non-executive directors of UK plcs have been on an upwards trajectory – by as much as 40% for chairmen of the FTSE 100 between 2006 and 2011, according to research done by  PwC, the professional services firm.

Chairmen of the next 250 largest companies saw a rise in pay of 45% in the same time period, while some non-executive directors (NEDs) still brave enough to sit on audit and remuneration committees since 2006 have ...

A wind of change on the continent ? In Italy, a ban imposed by Italian prime minister Mario Monti came into force last week, making it illegal for one individual to hold more than one board seat in a financial institution operating in the same sector or market.

It seems like a pretty obvious and sensible thing to do, especially when you realise that, due to the cross-shareholding nature of Italian financial institutions, one executive can have multiple board positions. And I...

How much momentum can you get in one week ? I think I was onto something with my thoughts last time on 'Investors of the World Unite' - in fact, I really ought to be starting a sweatshirt run, perhaps a small business...it appears to have universal appeal. 

But before I back that 'momentum' up - and I will -  this is 2nd attempt to blog tonight due to IT & idiocy (mine) and the hour is getting late, so an abbreviated version perhaps - blog I must, as it is the ...

I have a new catchy slogan for you :

INVESTORS OF THE WORLD UNITE: YOU HAVE NOTHING TO LOSE BUT YOUR APATHY

It feels - maybe - as if people might just have been listening to this silent call.

In the UK, as we go into the week of the Barclays AGM and a big brouhaha around PAY, a quick round-up:

The

I never expected to be linking here to the Cty of London Police website. But Adrian Leppard, Commissioner of the City of London Police, which is the UK's lead force for fraud has been innovative on how to deal with budget cuts while reinforcing the message that fraudsters should be scared enough to think twice - and also expanding the club of the 'good guys', which is es...

You know how we journalists get when we have a great idea and feel it didn't get enough coverage....I am shamelessly going to re-post this blogpost. Please note it first appeared in February 2011. For the links you will have to search for the original by the same name, omitting REPLAY.

"The iPad's march forward is taking it into boardrooms everywhere. Savvy companies in the UK are increasingly issuing them to their NEDs to make sure they appreciate their Jobs (sorry,...

Did they think a little Easter break would interrupt the scrutiny? Barclays Bank is still and again in the spotlight about the vast tub of money it is throwing at its CEO Bob Diamond and its finance director Chris Lucas. 

Bob Diamond: salary a puny £1.35m, "tax equalisation" (eh??) package worth £5.75m.......strange, I'm sure I heard Gideon on BBC being morally outraged by "tax evasion" - sorry I meant "tax avoidance" - measures but never knew about "tax equal...

The fines for market abuse are flying in faster than you can count them at the moment from the UK's City watchdog, the Financial Services Authority (FSA). For geeks like me it's like Valentine's Day every day with the press release in the inbox...... the latest news being the decision to fine Ian Hannam, a senior banker at JP Morgan and a 'larger than life' figure in the commodities and mining boom.