February, 2012

All Posts / Bank of England / Banking / Financial Services / FSA / Regulation — Comments Off
23
Feb 12

Heaven : No Volcker, No Vickers

Syria , the jobless and the banks

Heaven is a long mountain slope of perfect powder snow and a sky of an intense blue only found in the Austrian Alps. Amid the brightness and the swishing sound of my skis drawing perfect curves in the snow, a Norfolk terrier scampers around, capturing the prey that always eludes him, while an eleven year old boy relishes the lack of carrots and broccoli.

This exemplifies heaven for me, my son and his dog. Or I can describe heaven by quoting the Book of Revelation which says it is a cube of 12,000 furlongs and which author Terry Pratchett reveals is less than 500,000,000,000,000,000,000 cubic feet.  Continue reading...

All Posts / Banking / Financial Services / Governance / Regulation — Comments Off
2
Feb 12

Robinson Hambro in the FT

Corporate governance on a global basis

Today in the Financial Times, Robinson Hambro was interviewed on corporate governance divergencies between different countries. The transcript is below.

How wide are the differences in board corporate governance between countries?

The differences all over the world are narrowing due to the global nature of capital. For instance, the concept of independent directors is taking hold. Although they exist in name in, say, Hong Kong, the authorities there are seeking to crack down on those who hold too many directorships to be effective. They are considering requiring independent non-executives to comprise one third of a listed company’s board. Only a fourth of listed companies currently meet this requirement.  Continue reading...