Words .....that work

Does less financial data automatically assume less transparency ? If so, we are in trouble. On the other hand, it could be that more is known, but less is shared- which is even worse.

Chairmen and CEOs in the FTSE100 provided seven percent less financial data and eight percent less forward-looking financial data in annual statements over the last five years. 

Metapraxis, the business analysis com...

It was  something of an eye opener  to attend the second meeting of the Natural Resources Forum (NRF) last week at the Royal Institute in London's Mayfair.

Talk about boardrooms that have their work cut out - and oh so much risk management to worry about. And then there's whatever China is up to- no one really seems to know - but China's behaviour around natural resources in Africa is causing an awful lot of insomnia.

The

We may be making some progress appointing more women to boards of plcs across Europe, but - surprise, surprise - we are not paying them as much as men. This is partly because women are still not being appointed to the "top-paying, strategically important committee roles" and "barely two per cent" (in case you missed that, 2%) of non-executive chairs across Europe are held by women.

There is an 'actual pay gap' of 9% between male and female board members in Europe 2012...

If I insist on waiting until I have something positive to say in the New Year we could be waiting a very long time. But I might have a way forward - courtesy the FT's Lex column and the link is here.

There are suddenly a lot of allegations around emanating from short sellers about accounting irregularites. Zoomlion, China's construction-eqipment maker, may b...

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...

India Art Fair 2012 ended in Delhi a few days ago and for me a multi-dimensional and vibrant occasion was made extra special by some cats. Indigo Blue Art, the exciting Singapore-based gallery headed by Suman Aggarwal showing modern indian contemporary art, stole the buzz with its exit corner display entitled 'The Babu, The Nayika...

After HSBC was fined a record £10.5m and made to foot a compensation bill of nearly £29.3m for miss-selling financial products to thousands of elderly and disabled people in the UK, the Financial Services Authority (FSA) has acted quickly on guidance on non-executive directors (NEDs).

The reputational damage to Britain's largest bank can't be quanit...

The things one learns from hanging around the opulent Aman Resorts hotel (basic room $550 a night + taxes to a three bedroom Lodhi pool suite at $2,200 + taxes) in New Delhi, packed to the brim with a wedding party connected to some of its owners at DLF, India's largest real estate firm.

Of main interest here to this blog: the long arm of the UK's Bribery Act  which is, indeed, causing consternation and fear in equal amounts.

If you believe reports in...

I was always sympathetic to the #Occupy protest, - despite the confused message - but it just got a  whole lot more interesting in London.

As the City of London announced that it would "regrettably" have to use force to evict the protestors outside St Paul's Cathedral, a decision that has already divided the church, the activists have published their first list of demands, which have been signed by more than half of the protestors at Occupy London Stock Exchange and som...

It's a sad fact that if you call a report the 'Sex & Power 2011 Report'  there's a fair chance someone might actually read it. So good for the UK's Equality and Human Rights Commission, which has not minced its words in reporting about the shocking state of inequality by gender in Britain today.

More than 54,000 women are 'missing' from Britain's 26,000 most powerful positions, if you add up all the posts held by men and women, halve that figure for equal sharing be...