The Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) has rejected a resolution to implement a Shareholder Committee, submitted jointly by ShareSoc and UKSA.
It is not clear on what grounds the resolution has been rejected. What is clear is that an organisation 73% owned by the government has been able to obstruct a mild attempt to improve shareholder democracy. This at a time when a research paper RP261 of the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) has begun to lift the lid on the corruption of the share ownership system and a BEIS green paper is consulting on ways to fix some of the weaknesses in current corporate governance.
This episode calls into question whether S153 of the Companies Act, which enables 100 shareholders to requisition an AGM resolution, is fit for purpose.
More background from UKSA
Sharesoc press release
