8 June, 2020

How failed M&A can destroy a director’s credibility

Big mergers and acquisitions (M&As) make their first splash in the headlines based on the huge price tags attached to them. “Abbvie acquires Allergan, $63bn”, “United Technologies acquires R...

1 April, 2020

Pushback on buybacks as global brands postpone plans

On Wednesday this week WPP, one of the world’s largest marketing and advertising companies, suspended a £950m buyback announced last year. A day later Adidas, a global sports brand announced postpo...

30 September, 2019

Sasja Beslik: global finance industry ‘is the key to a sustainable future’

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3 July, 2019

Financial risk: questions the board should ask in uncertain times

Currency markets rarely hit the headlines during periods of stability. So it is unsurprising that, in the aftermath of the UK’s Brexit referendum, the precipitous fall in the value of the pound acte...

18 April, 2019

Trend for portfolio reviews drives M&A optimism

Nothing excites the business world like an M&A deal. Think of the fuss caused by the $30bn race to takeover of Sky by Comcast. And according to advisory firm EY, executives are so heady with M&...

29 October, 2018

Is it time to apply governance rules to the AIM stock exchange?

Two feted AIM stocks, Patisserie Valerie and Conviviality, revealed financial black holes that almost killed the first, and contributed to the collapse of the latter. While the AIM has always been ...

18 October, 2018

How the revised shareholder directive will help overcome short-termism

On 9 June 2017, the EU directive 2017/282 on long-term shareholder engag...

11 October, 2018

Balancing act: stock exchanges and dual-class shares

Stock exchanges form a critical component of the global financial market ecosystem, serving as gatekeepers linking companies to investors and as ...

11 October, 2018

Audit reform: which way now?

In 2016 Mervyn King, my South African countryman and colleague who is internationally renowned for his work in the sphere of corporate governance, asked me to write a book with him on th...

9 October, 2018

Why Blockchain is good news for governance

In our modern digital world, concepts like disruption, artificial intelligence (AI) and blockchain have gained much attention. But these developments raise questi...