Category Archives: Corporate Governance

Time running out for US financial firms to bid for ailing bank First Republic

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Deadline of Sunday set for companies such as JPMorgan Chase to table offer for California bank whose shares have plummeted

US regulators are racing to secure the sale of California bank First Republic, which is on course to become the third American lender to fail this year, a sequence of collapses that has drawn uncomfortable parallels with the 2008 global financial crisis.

Half a dozen US banks are in the running to take over stricken First Republic, according to reports over the weekend, with leading bidders including JPMorgan Chase, Citizens Financial and PNC Financial Services.

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Sainsbury’s and Unilever deny claims of profiteering in cost of living crisis

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Supermarket chain and consumer goods company insist they are protecting shoppers from inflation surge

Sainsbury’s and the Marmite maker Unilever have both insisted they are protecting shoppers from inflation, amid accusations that some companies are profiteering from the cost of living crisis.

“We are not profiteering in any form,” the chief executive of Unilever, Alan Jope, said as the consumer goods company insisted it was only passing on three-quarters of its increased costs to customers.

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UK company set up in name of top Putin official in Ukraine

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Volodymyr Saldo, a Kremlin puppet in the Russian-occupied territories, listed as firm’s owner, despite being under sanctions

A UK company has been set up in the name of one of Vladimir Putin’s top officials in Russian-occupied eastern Ukraine despite him being under sanctions.

Volodymyr Saldo, a notorious puppet of the Kremlin in the southern Ukrainian city of Kherson, is listed as the owner of a UK company registered in November, five months after his name was added to the sanctions list.

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Duke of Westminster’s property firm pays £50m dividend despite profits drop

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Boss of Grosvenor, which owns swathes of Mayfair and Belgravia, warns of ‘more pain’ for commercial property market

The Duke of Westminster’s property company, which owns swathes of London’s exclusive Mayfair and Belgravia districts, has paid out a £50m dividend despite falling profits.

The boss of Grosvenor, the duke’s £11.5bn property empire, warned of a period of stagflation and that UK interest rates and inflation could stay high for longer than expected, resulting in “more pain” for the commercial property market.

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HSBC shareholders urged to vote against break-up of business

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Bank warns spinning off more profitable Asia business would be complex and would lower dividends

HSBC’s board has urged shareholders to vote against a proposed break-up of its business at its annual meeting, arguing that a split would result in a “material loss” and lower dividends.

In response to calls for the split from its largest shareholder, the Chinese insurer Ping An, HSBC warned on Wednesday that spinning off its more profitable Asian business from the rest of the bank would also require approval from regulators in approximately 25 jurisdictions, and force it to make changes to customer services.

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World’s biggest investment fund warns directors to tackle climate crisis or face sack

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Norway’s sovereign wealth titan threatens to vote against boards on firms it holds investments with over lax climate and social targets

Norway’s sovereign wealth fund, the world’s single largest investor, has warned company directors it will vote against their re-election to the board if they don’t up their game on tackling the climate crisis, human rights abuses and boardroom diversity.

Carine Smith Ihenacho, chief governance and compliance officer of Norges Bank Investment Management, which manages more than 13tn Norwegian kroner (£1tn) on behalf of the Norwegian people, said the fund was preparing to vote against the re-election of at least 80 company boards for failing to set or hit environmental or social targets.

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Adani claims US investment firm’s fraud allegations are an ‘attack on India’

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Conglomerate responds to Hindenburg Research report that claimed it was the ‘biggest con in corporate history’

Adani Group has published a 413-page rebuttal of fraud allegations by Hindenburg Research, likening the US investment firm’s report to an attack on India amid mounting financial pressure on the coal conglomerate.

The lengthy response was an attempt to soothe investor concerns and stir nationalist fervour as Adani attempts to complete a US$2.5bn share sale, one of India’s largest ever fundraising campaigns, designed to finance capital expenditure and reduce debt.

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Adani Group firms lose $9bn in value amid short-seller claims

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Hindenburg Research says world’s third-richest person, Gautam Adani, is pulling ‘largest con in corporate history’

More than $9bn (£7.3bn) was wiped off the fortune of companies partly owned by the world’s third-richest person, after an activist investor accused him of “pulling the largest con in corporate history”.

Shares in listed companies tied to Adani’s empire Adani Group lost $9.4bn in market value on Wednesday after short seller investment firm Hindenburg Research published a detailed investigation into accusations of “brazen stock manipulation”, “accounting fraud” and “money laundering.”

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Founder of failed crypto exchange FTX apologises to ex-employees

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Sam Bankman-Fried continues to say firm’s downfall can be solely explained by misplaced $8bn

The founder of the failed crypto exchange FTX has written to its former employees apologising for his role in its collapse and continuing to insist its downfall can be solely explained by a misplaced $8bn (£6.7bn).

In the letter, first published by the industry news site CoinDesk, Sam Bankman-Fried wrote: “I deeply regret my oversight failure. In retrospect, I wish that we had done many many things differently … I’m going to do what I can to make it up to you guys – and to the customers – even if that takes the rest of my life.”

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Solar farm owner Toucan Energy enters administration amid Thurrock scandal

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Authority lent total of £655m over four years to owner of 53 solar parks across Britain

One of the country’s largest solar farm owners has entered administration amid the fallout from a scandal that forced an Essex council leader to resign.

Administrators at Interpath Advisory have been appointed to Toucan Energy Holdings, which owns a portfolio of 53 solar parks with a combined capacity of 513 megawatts across England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

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FTSE 100 firms hand billions in dividend payouts to Qatar investors

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Critics say everyday UK consumer spending has funnelled billions to controversial World Cup host since 2010

Some of the UK’s largest listed companies including water and energy giants have handed almost £500m to Qatari state-owned investors this year, raising concerns that blue-chip company profits are supporting the controversial World Cup host.

The dividend payouts are the result of the Gulf nation’s investments in a raft of FTSE 100 firms, including Barclays, Shell and utility firm Severn Trent, which have reported strong profits amid a cost of living crisis and the worst UK drought in centuries.

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Ban Bain & Co from US government contracts, Joe Biden is urged

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Exclusive: Labour peer calls on US president to follow UK in banning firm over misconduct in South Africa

Joe Biden should follow the UK in banning the global management consultancy firm Bain & Company from future government contracts, the Labour peer Peter Hain has said.

In a letter shared with the Guardian, the former minister and anti-apartheid campaigner urged the US president to “act on this matter and establish a clear precedent that will signal to all US global companies, consultancies, lawyers, auditors and financial advisers that collusion with corrupt politicians and their business cronies in other countries will not be tolerated”.

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Bain & Co barred from UK government contracts over ‘grave misconduct’ in South Africa

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Global management consultancy’s three-year ban follows pressure by ex- Labour minister Peter Hain

The global management consultancy Bain & Company has been barred from tendering for UK government contracts for three years after its “grave professional misconduct” in state corruption in South Africa, the Cabinet Office said.

Britain became the first western country to take this step, after pressure from the former Labour minister and anti-apartheid campaigner Peter Hain.

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The Uber files: how the leak prompted outrage across the world

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From Europe to India and the US, the revelations have fuelled anger from across the spectrum, from the drivers to politicians

The release of the Uber files has prompted a frenzy of reaction around the world, piling pressure on senior politicians, fuelling calls for a crackdown on corporate lobbying and drawing outrage from groups including traditional taxi drivers.

The fuse was lit with the publication of revelations from a trove of more than 124,000 documents about Uber spanning from 2013 to 2017, leaked to the Guardian and shared with the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) and international media.

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Queen’s ‘seabed rights’ swell to value of £5bn after auction of plots

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British crown estate portfolio rises in value by 8.3% to £15.6bn

The value of rights owned by the Queen’s property company to exploit the seabed around Britain’s coastline has swelled to £5bn after a record-breaking auction of plots for offshore windfarms.

Profits for the crown estate, which generates money for the Treasury and the royal family, jumped by £43.4m to £312.7m in the year to the end of March.

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EU agrees ‘landmark’ 40% quota for women on corporate boards

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Binding targets for boardroom gender equality come 10 years after proposals first made

The EU has agreed that companies will face mandatory quotas to ensure women have at least 40% of seats on corporate boards.

After 10 years of stalemate over the proposals, EU lawmakers hailed a “landmark” deal for gender equality. As well as the legally binding target, companies could also be fined for failing to recruit enough women to their non-executive boards and see board appointments cancelled for non-compliance with the law.

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Consultant who ditched Shell: ‘take a look at yourselves in the mirror’

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Caroline Dennett says she has been flooded with support after decision that has cost ‘around 60%-70% of my business’

Caroline Dennett’s eye was caught by a placard with two stark words: “insiders wanted”. The safety consultant was watching a video of Extinction Rebellion climate protesters who had glued themselves inside Shell’s headquarters in April and were encouraging employees to jump ship to aid its cause.

This week Dennett, who runs the independent agency Clout, released a bombshell video severing ties with Shell after an 11-year business relationship. She emailed 1,400 Shell employees and accused the £177bn behemoth of causing “extreme harms” to the environment and having a “disregard for climate change risks”.

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JD Sports boss Peter Cowgill quits with immediate effect

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Outspoken leader thought to have resisted board’s attempts to split the roles of chair and chief executive

The boss of JD Sports has stepped down with immediate effect just months after the retailer was fined more than £4m for breaching the competition regulator’s rules with clandestine meetings with a takeover target.

The company said Peter Cowgill, the outspoken chair and chief executive officer of JD, who has led the group since 2004, would be temporarily replaced as chief executive by Kath Smith, its senior independent director who spent 25 years as managing director of the Adidas and Reebok brands.

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Westpac fined $40m for charging fees to the dead

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Judge says bank ‘utterly failed to address the issues systematically’ as its total penalties for misconduct rise to $130m

Westpac has been fined $40m for charging fees to more than 11,800 dead people, bringing the total the federal court has ordered the bank to pay in a string of misconduct cases brought by the corporate regulator to $130m.

The Australian Securities and Investments Commission launched the six cases against Westpac in November, accusing the bank of charging financial advice service fees to the dead, double-charging for insurance, collecting and paying illegal commissions, failing to properly disclose fees, allowing company accounts that should have been closed to stay open and selling personal debts to collectors at an interest rate higher than allowed.

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THG rejects ‘unacceptable’ takeover approaches as revenues jump by 35%

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Online shopping group says it has dismissed ‘multiple’ attempts to buy company

Online shopping group THG has dismissed “numerous” takeover approaches as “unacceptable”, saying they undervalued the company.

Manchester-based THG (formerly known as The Hut Group), which runs beauty and nutrition websites including Lookfantastic, Cult Beauty and Myprotein, confirmed there had been interest from third parties, but said the company was not currently involved in any talks.

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