Corporate governance was an area I'd aways thought was a shamefully

[Joe Chi Minh]

corrupt feature of our financial culture, while American leaders were subject to far greater controls. However, judging from the article in the UK Money Mail by Lisa Buckingham today, in retrospect, maybe I was thinking of your willingness to go after the maverick malefactors - the outright criminals.

Anyway, these paragraphs, in particular, struck me (the link is given below):

"Certainly, the Cadbury Report arose from some murky, entirely British scandals. But the searing intelligence of Cadbury's recommendations laid the foundations for accepted boardroom practice in the UK that far outstrips behaviour elsewhere. (on edit: That must even give hope for the Cammora...).

It still seems inconceivable that in America, the Land of the Free, shareholders are not allowed to vote on who is appointed to a company's board, nor on the remuneration package of directors.

Last week it emerged that the three top executives at US Goldman Sachs had (albeit on the coat-tails of a monumentally successful year) each been paid more han $50,000,000 ($25,000,000) last year, while the two guys who who drove HSBC's latst US purchase into the ground are each to walk away with $10,000,000 (£5,000,000) in their back pockets.

Far too often an American chief executive is also the Chairman - removing a crucial check and balance at the top of a company.

These are neanderthal boardroom behaviours and I am plaeased that activist investors such as F&C are attempting to put pressure on companies in America and elsewhere to try to match what British investors now regard as standard.

Though it is early days, and only the first tentative steps are visible so far... etc."

http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/news/columnists/article.html?in_article_id=417813&in_page_id=19&in_author_id=2

Seems like your Democratic leaders have work to do in this area, too - top of everything else.

PS: The first paragraph from another great-looking article on the same page:

Call for Bosses to give back bonuses

"INVESTMENT campaigners are heaping pressure on companies to change executive pay contracts so that bonuses could be reclaimed if company results do not warrant them."



"'Crucially, Litvack said the provisions would give board members an incentive to be cautious in their accounting methods.

If there is any choice about how to calculate accounts, we want directors to know that if they make a decision that benefits their bonus, it will be automatically reversed if the accounts are restated,' she said.

It is about encouraging decision-making in accounts to be more cautious.'"

http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/investing-and-markets/article.html?in_article_id=417802&in_page_id=3