Recent news

The iPad has a new app. Devised by Capita Asset Services, ‘Signal documents’ enables users to download and use shareholder documents for most of Capita’s 880 stock market clients, 43% of the market.

The Sunday Times, on April 26, has quoted Hargreaves Lansdown as claiming that private investors “have the same rights and benefits under a nominee service” as those holding shares in certificated form. This is incorrect and seriously misleading.

Do Alliance Trust directors deserve the support of their thousands of individual investors in resisting Elliott Advisors’ attempts to influence the company’s performance? Or is the hedge fund genuinely seeking long term improvement, rather than just looking for short term gain?

'everyinvestor' Q & A with chairman of UKSA John Hunter, discussing corporate governance, investing habits and more .... Read the 'everyinvestor' article here

The UK Shareholders’ Association (UKSA) is an active member of Better Finance for All, the Brussels-based organisation that works for private savers and investors within the EU and for 2015 has voluntarily increased its subscription by 50 per cent.

Investors in Wm Morrison Supermarkets plc are being asked, at very considerable expense, to let current and former directors off the hook, scot-free, for repeated breaches of the Companies Act. Nobody is resigning because of this.

Today’s announcement that takeovers by schemes of arrangement are to be subject to tax is a victory (albeit a small one) for private investors. See page 61, paragraph 1.249, of the full Autumn Statement for which a link appears below. The UK Shareholders’ Association (UKSA) welcomes the news, because we believe it will result in fewer takeovers by this method.

Two members of the UK Shareholders’ Association were pleased to have the opportunity of speaking at the London Investor Show, 24th October 2014. Malcolm Howard tackled “How to read published accounts to spot undervalued companies” and Eric Chalker answered the question, “Do you really own your shares?” A good number of new members joined at the UKSA stand, where many interesting conversations too place. The organisers’ video of the event can be found here: http://youtu.be/BpxVfltW82g

For the past 3 years, The UK Shareholders’ Association has played a leading role in advising the Government, the Financial Reporting Council, the Financial Conduct Authority and other bodies on issues arising from the growth of pooled nominee accounts, in which close to a majority of private investors now find themselves.

The UK Shareholders’ Association continues to fight for better corporate governance and the better accounting that goes with it. One matter of concern has been, what should be meant by the term “going concern”?
For many years company directors have been required to ensure and believe that their accounts are drawn up on a “going concern “basis. In practice this has always been the case, as to use any other basis could only mean that the liquidator was at the door.