Corporate Governance

TCI battle with Deutsche Börse is too personal

3 Oct 2008

The activist investor emailed the German stock exchange demanding an EGM to remove Kurt Viermetz, the supervisory board chairman. It s not suggesting strategy changes or other board candidates. This looks like a personal grudge not a responsible investment policy.

BSkyB gets off lightly where it counts

1 Oct 2008

It could have been a terrible week for the British satellite broadcaster, but it didn t turn out too badly. Sure, it has been told to reduce its 17.9% stake in rival ITV. But Sky is only being asked not forced to give rivals better access to its most valuable content.

ABN regulators should be ashamed of themselves

26 Sep 2008

If Fortis had stayed out of the E71bn Dutch bank deal, it might have avoided the current capital concerns. Boards, shareholders and managers all messed up. But regulators should never have approved taking E53bn of bank capital off the table in late 2007.

Goldman, Morgan Stanley wave white flag on risk

22 Sep 2008

The last two big investment banks have agreed to become bank holding companies. That probably means a new funding model, greater regulation, less leverage and different accounting. Restoring shortterm confidence is the aim. But over time, it means less risk and less reward.

BoE woke up late again to bank dangers

22 Sep 2008

Mervyn King changed his mind on the special liquidity scheme for banks. But doubts about the BoE s position exacerbated market fears and HBOS s frailty. King was slow to see how thirsty UK banks are for liquidity. The lender of last resort needs to be closer to the play.

City regulator to crack down on banker pay

22 Sep 2008

The FSA is considering a neat scheme. Banks that continue with incentive structures that encourage excessive risk will have to hold more capital. Given that headsIwintailsyoulose incentive schemes were a big cause of the bubble, such action is legitimate.

Sanofi gets rid of boss late in the day

10 Sep 2008

The French pharmaceuticals company s largest shareholders, Total and L Oreal, have taken action in response to the long share price slide that followed the botched merger with Aventis. CEO Gerard Le Fur is out. But the chairman, JeanFrancois Dehecq, should go as well.

US needs to catch up on equity swap disclosure

10 Sep 2008

The role of nonvoting economic stakes in takeover battles has been murky. US regulators should demand more disclosure, as some of their international colleagues have done. Derivatives' pivotal role in the takeover battle of Longs Drug shows why.

Vittorio Colao puts his first mark on Vodafone

9 Sep 2008

The mobile operator s new CEO has appointed an outsider to run the European business and will take personal control of Vodafone s US investment in Verizon Wireless. It's good housekeeping for a new boss of a big company already going in roughly the right direction.

Geronzi does it again

9 Sep 2008

True to form, the Mediobanca boss has struck a canny deal. He has given some ground to investors, like Unicredit, who wanted to curb his attempts to dominate the Milanese bank. But Geronzi has gained influence over its most important assets its web of cross shareholdings.

Lehman serves up amuse-bouche

8 Sep 2008

Jeremy Isaacs, the Europe and Asia boss, is quitting after Bart McDade pipped him to become Dick Fuld's heir apparent. Other senior posts are being shuffled. But the real meal will come next week when the firm details plans to spin off its bad bank and replenish capital.

Nestlé’s loss looks to be Unilever’s gain

4 Sep 2008

Paul Polman missed out on the top job at Nestlé. Now he will be the first outsider to run Unilever. He needs to get the internal candidates he pipped to the post onside. But experience at Nestlé and P&G should help him give his new employer some much needed zip.

Alcatel-Lucent’s new leaders won’t have it easy

1 Sep 2008

Former BT chief Ben Verwaayen will be the FrenchAmerican telecom equipment maker s chief executive. Philippe Camus, a former Eads coCEO, will be nonexecutive chairman. They are good choices. Their priority should be to end the rift between the company s French and US teams.

RBS board changes don’t alter balance of power

27 Aug 2008

The UK bank has found three solid new nonexecutives. But it s only a second tier reshuffle. Bigger heads must roll for RBS really to start afresh. Investors may want the chief executive to stay for a while to integrate ABN Amro, but a new chairman is in order right now.

UBS shows right sort of boldness in board choices

12 Aug 2008

The troubled bank has managed to find some fine talent to beef up its previously ineffective board. Hedge fund manager RainerMarc Frey might seem an odd choice for a bank scaling back risky bets. But financial expertise and independent thought are just what more banks need.

Yahoo’s botched election raises questions

6 Aug 2008

The internet company initially said its chairman and CEO were comfortably elected. Instead, an extraordinary revised tally shows a huge protest vote. Among the questions it raised: is Yahoo so distant from shareholders that it thought the initial results correct?

Cablevision worth lots more – without the Dolans

5 Aug 2008

The cable company s controlling shareholders say they re exploring options to help create value. If they were serious, a sale of the assets could give shareholders a juicy premium. Unfortunately, the Dolans aren't likely to part with their toys anytime soon.

Cayne’s excuses don’t add up

4 Aug 2008

The former Bear Stearns boss told Fortune he nearly died last September and said a conspiracy had contributed to the firm s collapse. But he also said he hadn t reined in leverage and was at a loss as early as last summer. Stepping down sooner might have made a difference.

Alcatel-Lucent chooses lesser of two evils

29 Jul 2008

The founders of the FrenchUS telecom equipment maker are finally leaving the company created by the merger from hell. Their departure should help end the group s nationalist paralysis. But the timing is awful and without a succession plan AlcatelLucent looks as lost as ever.

JPMorgan Cazenove goes outside for new CEO

28 Jul 2008

Naguib Kheraj isn't coming to revolutionise the banking joint venture, which has a distinguished past and a more doubtful future. But Kheraj, whose last fulltime job was finance director at Barclays, must deal with some big questions, not least whether the entity will survive.