Update

Our co-operation with the UK Shareholders Association is going well, and a number of us have already joined the 1000+ former shareholders who have made a contribution to their legal ‘fighting fund.’ See http://www.uksa.org.uk/NorthernRock.htm for the latest news and how to contribute.

There are two new messages coming out of the continuing debate:

1. The role of non-executive directors in holding the executive to account in return for easy money. Robin is going to contact MPs to urge that they be given legal responsibility to report independently to shareholders on their stewardship.
2. The remuneration packages and contracts of senior executives. Here they are not subject to explicit shareholder consent nor scrutiny. In the USA, companies must file contracts with their Securities and Exchange Commission and they can be viewed on the Internet. If this happened here, the openness would ensure such bombshells as the Applegarth gold rush wouldn’t happen.