MPs Jonathan Djanogly and Justine Greening on a demo with Alan Duncan
Shares are not just for elite, they are also attractive staff perks and tempting freebies for loyal building society customers. Now it is intended to give small shareholders a fairer deal and more rights.
Flying the flag for shareholder democracy were Shadow Tade Secretary Alan Duncan and MPs Jonathan Djanogly and Justine Greening. They joined dozens of private investors today in a demo outside the House of Commons organised by Gavin Oldham, CEO of The Share Centre
They were endorsing amendments to the Companies Bill, which is currently before Parliament and would give nominee shareholders full rights to vote at AGMs and receive reports and accounts.
Alan Duncan explained it like this:
“Nearly 4 million people hold their shares through a nominee, often because they are required to by ISA and PEP regulations. Yet, they are not entitled to the same rights as people who hold their shares on the share register.
“This is unfair. The Government claim that they want to encourage shareholder engagement, but are doing nothing about it. We think that shareholder democracy is vital for good corporate social responsibility – shareholders need to be aware of their company’s actions for them to be able to demand improvements in the way they operate.
“In the House of Lords, Conservatives managed to amend the Company Law Reform Bill to ensure that the nominee shareholders are treated fairly. The Government have since indicated that they will remove our amendments. In the short time now available, we hope that the Government will change their mind. This is why the Conservative Party is supporting the rally today.”
Jonathan and Justine both sit on the Standing Committee which will vote on whether the amendment stays for a final vote in the Commons.
This makes sound sense to me; surely all shareholders should be treated equally.
sounds like a good idea. you still have voting rights when you hold your shares in nominee although admittedly you receive less bumph in the post from your company – this can be a good thing though!
thank you for your comment. i’ve posted some new photos today with my new camera….
Tom
good to see the Tories side with the little man on this rather than the big corporations – maybe they ARE changing?!
Why should someone who freely and voluntarily bought something be given rights beyond what they paid for at the time?
If you don’t like not having voting rights, put your investment elsewhere.
Serves me right for not reading the whole of the comments…
In light of Alan’s comments, it makes sense. That it’s actually a response to existing regulations that basically prevent shareholders from having voting rights in the company. So, it’s not interference in a private transaction.
Tim
I think the point is that all shareholders are asked to shoulder the risk of holding shares yet only some are afforded any influence.
I think that wider shareownership in society is a good thing for all sorts of reasons such as encouraging people to rely less on the state, promote equality, incentivise the workforce, changing attitudes towards capitalism etc.
Yet despite the hype of the great privatisation boom share ownership amoongst individuals is declining as is the number of people who own shares.
They key to changing that is engagement and the amendment proposed to the CLR Bill is an important step – as recognised by Alan Duncan and his team.
Tim, thanks for coming back, you had me worried there for a moment.