Thoughts from the City

Are CEOs heeding internal auditors?

Ben Griffiths — Tue, 24 Jul 2012 14:21:10 GMT

The tenth anniversary of one of the biggest fraud scandals in corporate history passed last weekend without fanfare. Yet vital lessons are still not being learned.Collapsed US telecoms giant WorldCom filed for bankruptcy on 21 July 2002 after a fraud...

Are non-execs failing to do their job?

Ben Griffiths — Thu, 19 Jul 2012 10:21:20 GMT

Should regulators be able to bring arbitrary pressure to bear on the boards of private companies?If you listen to Andrew Tyrie, chairman of the House of Commons treasury select committee, then the answer is a resounding no.Tyrie’s committee has been...

The fight for top quality non-execs

Ben Griffiths — Tue, 10 Jul 2012 12:06:05 GMT

Non-executive directors are now more important than ever. Companies and investors are under pressure to improve their stewardship of business amid widespread criticism of corporate excesses.Britain’s ‘shareholder spring’ clearly demonstrated that activism is on the increase, with a correlating rise...

Out of harm's way

Ben Griffiths — Tue, 03 Jul 2012 13:04:08 GMT

When investing in bank shares is only for the brave, something has gone dreadfully wrong.So said business secretary Vince Cable in a speech to the Association of British Insurers chairman’s dinner just days after the revelation that Barclays - and...

So much hot air

Ben Griffiths — Wed, 27 Jun 2012 10:39:10 GMT

What happens when the corporate world collides with the environment was a hot topic at the United Nations’ Rio+20 summit last week, coming two decades after the Earth Summit in the same Brazilian city.Ahead of the meeting big business was...

Above board?

Ben Griffiths — Thu, 14 Jun 2012 14:35:44 GMT

In the week when a new report found the total pay and bonuses package among FTSE 100 chief executives climbed by 10 percent last year I was captivated by a book on leadership in the Royal Navy.How can the two...

Oh to leave a better banking legacy

Ben Griffiths — Mon, 11 Jun 2012 15:15:10 GMT

The future strength and stability of Europe’s banking system is a goal being targeted by all interested parties and political shades, both here in Britain and across the continent. Exactly how we get there is the trillion dollar question and...

A glimmer of light

Ben Griffiths — Tue, 29 May 2012 09:33:00 GMT

Amid all the recent doom and gloom a rare bright spot has emerged: small and mid-cap quoted companies are optimistic about the future.Last week the confirmation that Britain is stuck in the first double-dip recession since the 1970s came as...

A 'bonfire of regulations'

Ben Griffiths — Thu, 24 May 2012 09:05:49 GMT

Talk to any business these days and the issue of red tape is sure to crop up in conversation sooner rather than later. Companies report being weighed down by the burden of complying with a multitude of laws many of...

A loss for all

Ben Griffiths — Mon, 14 May 2012 09:13:17 GMT

The focus on fat cat pay in recent weeks has rightly fallen on to boardrooms. Some of Britain’s biggest companies have found themselves embarrassed after investors big and small refused to support gold-plated remuneration packages. Several chief executives including Sly...

Opening late for business

Ben Griffiths — Wed, 09 May 2012 09:41:26 GMT

Pity the poor traveller. As thousands of people prepared to head off abroad for the Bank Holiday weekend thoughts inevitably turned to what kind of reception airline passengers would receive when they arrived back in this country.Would the chaos that...

When did we stop taking responsibility?

Ben Griffiths — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 09:37:07 GMT

Hector Sants, chief executive of City watchdog the Financial Services Authority, delivered his parting speech this week and called for more action to deliver effective reforms on corporate governance.We’ve heard some of what he had to say before. But among...

Let's slow things down

Ben Griffiths — Fri, 20 Apr 2012 11:07:32 GMT

It’s difficult to shake off the sense of deja vu pervading some of my working life as a City and financial journalist these days.The euro zone debt crisis, like a crazed zombie from a B-list movie, refuses to die. The...

Is extradition a one-way street?

Ben Griffiths — Mon, 16 Apr 2012 10:16:31 GMT

Seeing the images of cleric Abu Hamza this week as he faced being shipped to the US on terrorism charges sparked memories for me of 2004, and the London extradition hearing of the so-called NatWest Three.The case of these former...

Will it take a hefty fine for business to change?

Ben Griffiths — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 08:25:27 GMT

It’s been a bad week for Britain and bribery.Two years since the 2010 Bribery Act was passed and a mere 12 months since it came into force and the criticism of corporate controls in this country are coming thick and...

As slick as oil

Ben Griffiths — Mon, 26 Mar 2012 14:03:19 GMT

During the dark days of the recent recession British industry took a pounding as spending cuts and the consumer slowdown began to bite. Amid the gloom one sector provided a little-seen beacon in the far north of these islands. The...

A day to bury news?

Ben Griffiths — Mon, 19 Mar 2012 14:19:06 GMT

‘Banks’ day of Shame’ was how one newspaper front page summarised the decision of Barclays, Royal Bank of Scotland and Lloyds Banking Group to publish their annual pay reports on the same day.Just one of these documents can provide an...

Mega-merger madness

Ben Griffiths — Wed, 14 Mar 2012 09:48:56 GMT

Some investors have already criticised the proposed Glencore-Xstrata merger, perhaps anticipating regulators’ potential veto of such a behemoth.Will the proposed merger of Glencore and Xstrata buck the recent trend of failed big mining deals and give the mergers and acquisitions...

How to motivate staff?

Fri, 09 Mar 2012 11:08:20 GMT

The John Lewis Partnership was back in the news this week as the annual announcement of its bonus round for workers hit the headlines.The 14 percent of salary payout for all partners - equivalent to seven weeks’ pay - is...

Who owns UK shares?

Thu, 01 Mar 2012 10:47:00 GMT

Amid the flood of information published each month by the Office for National Statistics, few snippets of data demand to be read.Earlier this week, however, a fascinating report into the ownership of shares in UK quoted companies was published. It...

Fight or flight

Thu, 23 Feb 2012 14:57:24 GMT

Aviation has become one of the most emotive subjects in Britain. The advent of cheap flights and no-frills airlines such as easyJet and Ryanair made flying accessible to the masses and boosted demand for more routes to foreign climes, in...

Should blue chip companies be taking social media more seriously?

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 15:02:32 GMT

It’s a common complaint of mine that too much lip service is paid to issues such as corporate social responsibility. It’s a theme all FTSE 100 companies tell investors and other stakeholders they care about. After all, they publish reams...

Binge shopping offers only temporary respite

Thu, 02 Feb 2012 09:59:17 GMT

So now we know. British shoppers enjoyed a last big splurge on festive goodies and presents during the key Christmas trading season before snapping their purses and wallets shut in early January.The latest data from the British Retail Consortium (BRC)...

Does the FSA really work?

Mon, 30 Jan 2012 10:12:01 GMT

An insider trading probe uncovered by the Financial Services Authority has resulted in the City watchdog’s latest attempt to prove that the days of ‘light touch’ regulation are over.David Einhorn, one of the US’s most high profile hedge fund bosses,...

Inertia thwarts big changes on excessive pay

Fri, 20 Jan 2012 11:00:06 GMT

In a week when David Cameron again criticised the ‘out of control’ City bonus culture and called for a new moral capitalism, it was a welcome surprise to see Fidelity speak out against excessive boardroom pay.It’s not unusual to have...