It is sometimes forgotten that equity markets exist not solely to enrich speculators, market makers and intermediaries. In the UK their historic purpose - at a time of both economic and empire expansion - was to bring together those with...

“In whose interests should companies be run?” is a question that people have grappled with for years. A small company owner (who also owns its shares) will usually run it in their own interest. And this is usually fine provided...

For the last 20 years, corporate governance has developed incrementally and the direction of travel has always been the same - towards more and more specification about generally accepted fundamentals. These include: the role of non-executive directors, ensuring no single...

There is now a climate of opinion which accepts that changes are needed. A ‘Big Society’ would demand it. The reforms since Enron and WorldCom proved useless in preventing banks taking extreme risks and gambling with our economies. Again, boards...

How do we know value when it is created? Adam Smith divided incomes into profit, wage, and rent. He reasoned that in seeking profit, businesses create value in a competitive environment by engaging in mutually beneficial transactions. This way an...

In 1992, after failures at Barings Bank and Polly Peck, Sir Adrian Cadbury proposed a voluntary code of governance based on best practice principles coupled with disclosure. The idea was for shareholders to consider the disclosures and hold boards to...