City comment: A major consequence of the financial crisis has been the change in the approach of the Financial Services Authority from light touch to a new and much more intrusive form of regulation... more
Britain's top companies will face more pressure to increase the number of women on their boards from next year under a new code that stops short of quotas seen in other European countries... more
The ink is barely dry on the code of conduct issued last week by the Financial Reporting Council, which built on work by the Institute of Chartered Secretaries to guide boards in how they might exercise control to stop chief executives becoming dominant in decision making, controlling discussions and taking decisions... more
Our biggest bank, HSBC, moved quickly to shoot down a prominent report in a Sunday paper which alleged that the bank was poised to move its headquarters overseas... more
Lord Mandelson is fully entitled to tout his services on the after-dinner circuit, but his obsequious praise for his hosts at a dinner held by Kazakhstan’s sovereign wealth fund has raised a few eyebrows... more
City Comment: The launch by the Financial Reporting Council of the stewardship code is the latest round in the never-ending drive to improve standards of governance... more
When a travel firm hits trouble, its peers in the industry are committed to rescue and bring home the stranded customers. The fund management industry offers no such mutual protection for its clients stranded when a firm collapses
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Peter Montagnon, former Financial Times hack and attack dog for the Association of British Insurers, is off to the Financial Reporting Council to be its senior investment adviser... more
City Comment: Captain Oates's words to Scott in the Antarctic have resonated ever since, so when it is said a code for shareholders "may be some time", you may think the worst... more
City Comment: Ernst & Young is in the spotlight following the report published in the United States into the collapse of Lehman Brothers, where the firm was the auditor
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Firms could be required to report on efforts they are making to increase the number of women in senior management jobs, the Government announced ... more
The Big Four accountancy firms have been told to back off from serious conflicts of interest in pursuing lucrative advisory work at their audit clients ... more
Leading companies are calling for yet another overhaul of the so-called Combined Code, which sets guidelines for good corporate governance such as the appointments of chairmen.... more
Bankers were donning the sunglasses in the City at lunchtime this week. Not outside, in the glorious sunshine, but indoors at the Guildhall, where the bright orange decor for the annual Extel analysts and brokers awards was causing a few grumbles. ... more
Ever since half the banking system collapsed last year, people have been asking why the big shareholders did not see what was happening as chief executives ran amok, and take steps to prevent it ... more
When you meet someone these days who was until recently a non-executive director of one of the banks, it does not take long before the conversation turns to what went wrong. ... more
PricewaterhouseCoopers has been attacked by the Financial Reporting Council because it encourages certain partners on client audits to cross-sell other services of the firm... more
It is quite easy to argue that one of the main reasons we have a banking disaster on our hands is that shareholders decided to give bankers bonuses based on their performance.... more
It is quite easy to argue that one of the main reasons we have a banking disaster on our hands is that shareholders decided to give bankers bonuses based on their performance.... more
When the Pensions Regulator was still feeling its way as a relatively new body two or three years ago, its head David Norgrove used to counsel against what he termed "reckless prudence"... more
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