Financial Information

Three new female non-executive directors were appointed to FTSE 100 boards on Wednesday, in moves campaigners hope signal a reversal in the slowing rate of women hired to Britain’s top corporate roles.

A trio of announcements unveiled Susan Rice, managing director of Lloyds Banking Group in Scotland, as a new director of the grocer J Sainsbury; Jo Harlow, vice president of mobile group Nokia, as a non-executive of software firm Sage; and Jill McDonald, who runs the northern Europe division of burger chain McDonald’s, as the latest director of InterContinental Hotels Group.

Last month the business secretary, Vince Cable, conceded that the momentum of women winning top posts “appears to be slowing”, despite a surge in the wake of the 2011 report by former banker Lord Davies that recommended women should fill 25% of FTSE 100 board roles by 2015.

While the figure has since increased from 12.5% to 17.4%, in the past two months just 12% of FTSE boardroom vacancies have gone to women, compared with about 50% at the same time last year.

Jane Scott, a director of the Professional Boards Forum which compiles the statistics, said: “[The appointments are] really good news. It has been a terribly slow year.”

Source: The Guardian

Barclays has named two new non-executive directors as new bosses attempt to put a series of scandals behind the British bank.
The board was criticised last year for being too indulgent with management and failing to spot the risks from a free-wheeling, risk-taking culture under former Chief Executive Bob Diamond.
Alison Carnwath quit as head of its remuneration committee in July and said later that she had clashed with the board over Mr Diamond’s bonus.
Chairman David Walker and Chief Executive Antony Jenkins were picked the following month after Barclays was fined $450 million for manipulating Libor interest rates, with a brief to streamline operations and overhaul the culture of the three century-old bank.
Barclays said Frits van Paasschen, who is president and CEO of US group Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide, would join the board in August and Michael Ashley, head of quality and risk management for KPMG in Europe, a month later.
Mr Ashley will be the fourth new non-executive, alongside Tim Breedon who arrived in November and Diane de Saint Victor in March.
Andrew Likierman, who joined the board in 2004, is stepping down.
The other remaining nine non-executive directors are standing for re-election at the annual shareholder meeting on Thursday, and critics say the changes at the top of Barclays have not gone far enough.
John Sunderland, who has been on the board for eight years and replaced Ms Carnwath as head of remuneration, was harshly criticised by politicians in January for defending a past pay-out to Mr Diamond.
Fulvio Conti joined the board in 2006 and Michael Rake, the deputy chairman who has been on the board for five years, said in October he had no plans to resign, after the Financial Times reported that he was likely to depart soon.
There have been big changes below board level, however.
Mr Jenkins said on Friday that Diamond’s last top lieutenants – investment bank boss Rich Ricci and wealth management head Tom Kalaris – would be leaving.
Finance director Chris Lucas said in February he would retire as soon as a replacement is found.
Barclays said Mr Van Paasschen has previously been CEO of Coors Brewing Co and had senior roles at Nike and Disney Consumer Products.
It said Mr Ashley is an experienced auditor and financial expert, with over 20 years as an audit partner, including lead audit partner for several large financial firms.

Source RTE News

The Institute of Directors (IoD) today announces five new members of its Board. The new appointments are: – Damon Clark to take office from 15 April 2013 for three years. – Erica Ingham to take office from 17 July 2013 for three years. – Ken Olisa to take office from 15 April 2013 for three years. – Chris Walton to take office from 17 July 2013 for three years. – Suzy Walton to take office from 2 December 2013 for three years.

Ireland laid the foundation to regain its economic sovereignty, with the biggest bond sale since the near-collapse of its financial system forced the nation to seek a bailout in 2010.

Ireland’s Dublin-based debt agency increased the planned sale of bonds to 5 billion euros ($6.5 billion), in its first 10-year debt issue since the international rescue, according to a person familiar with the matter, who declined to be identified because the results aren’t yet public. The agency had planned to sell about 3 billion euros of bonds.

“The strong Irish comeback thus continues, and the country is another step closer to meeting also the ECB’s definition of full bond market access,” said Jan von Gerich, chief fixed- income analyst at Nordea Bank AB.

Ireland is seeking to become the first nation to leave a rescue program since the euro debt crisis started more than three years ago. After an accord to ease the cost of the nation’s bank bailout and with European leaders considering giving the nation more time to pay bailout debts, Prime Minister Enda Kenny’s government is on track to leave the bailout at the end of the year.

“Today’s deal is a positive reflection of the market’s increased comfort with Ireland’s recovery story, as we further reposition ourselves away from our peripheral peers,” said Stephen Lyons, an analyst with Dublin-based securities firm Davy, one of the managers of the sale.

Drew Bids

The yield on the bond was 240 basis points over mid-swaps, a fixed-market benchmark, according to the person. The sale attracted at least 12 billion euros of bids, according to two people.

The NTMA last issued 10-year bonds in 2010, before the near-collapse of the country’s banking system prompted investors to shun the nation’s debt. In November of that year, the Irish government asked for a 67.5 billion-euro international rescue in a three-year program.

The NTMA hired Barclays Plc, Danske Bank, Davy, HSBC Holdings Plc, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Nomura Holdings Inc. as joint lead-managers for the transaction.

“This represents an important milestone in the country’s re-engagement with the bond market,” said Philip O’Sullivan, an economist at Dublin-based NCB Stockbrokers today. “Ten-year issuance could have important ramifications for Ireland’s credit rating and its plans for a successful exit from the bailout program at year-end.”

The yield on the Irish 5 percent bond maturing in October 2020 has fallen from a euro-era high of more than 14 percent in July 2011 to 3.65 percent.

Turnaround in Fortunes

The turnaround in Ireland’s fortunes has gained momentum since the government last month came up with a plan to lessen the burden of the former Anglo Irish Bank Corp.’s bailout. Under an accord which the ECB agreed not to block, the state swapped so-called promissory notes used to rescue the failed lender with 25 billion euros of long-term government bonds with maturities of as long as 40 years.

In addition, European finance ministers are considering giving Ireland more time to pay back loans stemming from the 2010 bailout.

Standard & Poor’s on Feb. 11 raised its outlook on Ireland’s BBB+ credit rating to stable from negative. Moody’s Investors Service Inc. said March 7 an agreement among European finance ministers to consider extending maturities on the Irish bailout is “very significant for Ireland” on top of the Anglo Irish deal.

Moody’s rates Ireland at Ba1, the company’s highest non- investment rating, with a negative outlook. Ireland in January sold 2.5 billion euros in bonds maturing in October 2017. The government sold 4.2 billion euros of new debt in July, including extra issuance of its October 2020 bonds.

Ireland may need as many as two longer-term bond sales before it’s eligible for the ECB’s Outright Monetary Transactions bond buying program, Finance Minister Micheal Noonan has said.

“Ireland could actually leave the EU-IMF program at any time it wants to,” Holger Schmieding, chief economist at Berenberg Bank in London, said. “What Ireland needs is now is not extra money. It doesn’t even need longer maturities for its outstanding official loans. What it needs is the implicit promise by the ECB to support countries that leave official programs.”

Source: Bloomberg.com

As part of Sir George Cox’s independent review – ‘Overcoming Short-termism within British Business: The Key to Sustained Economic Growth’, published today – the Institute of Directors today releases a new survey of its members on the issue of short-termism.

The survey was carried out as part of the evidence process for the Cox Review, and was completed by 1,132 members of the IoD’s Policy Voice panel in June 2012.

Key Findings

• 92% of business leaders thought that short-termism was a significant impediment to the growth and development of the UK economy

•  81% thought that UK companies have become even more short-termist in their behaviour in the period since the financial crisis began

• 64% agreed that other countries take a longer-term approach to business than the UK (particularly Germany, China and Japan). This provides them with a significant competitive advantage

• 79% of respondents thought that short-termist pressures acted as a disincentive to think and plan for the longer term. 75% felt that short-termism deters investment. Around 60% thought that short-termism created a disincentive to recruit or undertake R&D expenditure

• 64% of respondents believe the main source of short-termist pressure in the UK economy is shareholder/investor pressure for short-term results. 58% thought that uncertainty about the economic outlook was a key source. 48% said that uncertainty about government economic policy was an important cause of short-termism

Commenting on the survey results, Simon Walker, Director General of the Institute of Directors, said:

“Many UK companies feel exposed to short-term pressures which can inhibit their ability to plan and invest for the longer term. The economic downturn has made things worse, forcing many firms to focus on their very survival rather than longer term investment. Short-termism is a corrosive influence on the UK economy, and our members would welcome action to rein it in.”

Commenting on the Cox Review, he continued:

“Sir George Cox’s report provides policy makers with a range of ways in which these short-term pressures can be addressed. In particular, the report is right to identify equity markets as a key source of short-termist pressure for quoted companies, and to make the case for measures that incentivise equity investors to become more engaged, committed company owners. His advocacy of an end to mandatory quarterly reporting and a more long-term approach to executive pay policy is particularly welcome.”

Source:- IOD UK Press Office

The addition of a non executive director could be a valuable addition to a Board of Directors. Many businesses looking for improved corporate governance or business development have added a non executive director to their Board.

Religare Enterprises today said it has appointed A C Mahajan, former chairman and managing director of Canara Bank, as an independent non-executive director on its board.

“As a group we look forward to his guidance on the integrated financial services portfolio of Religare given his deep and incisive understanding of the banking industry in India,” Sunil Godhwani, chairman and managing director of Religare Enterprises, said in a statement.

The appointment appears to be in line with Religare’s strategy to apply for a new banking licence. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has released the final guidelines on entry of new banks last month.

Mahajan has over three decades of experience in the banking industry. Between 2006 and 2008, he was the chairman and managing director of Kolkata-based Allahabad Bank. He took charge of Canara Bank for two years in 2008. He was earlier executive director of Bank of Baroda.

Mahajan is currently chairman of the governing council of Banking Codes and Standards Board of India. He also serves as an independent director on the boards of Hindustan Petroleum Corporation, Management Development Institute, Himvati Power Company, Lanco Babanth Power and IDBI MF Trustee Company.

Regus plc, a provider of flexible workplaces, announced Friday that it will propose Florence Pierre to be appointed as a Non-Executive Director of the Company with effect from 21 May 2013, subject to applicable regulations including the requirement for shareholder approval at the Company’s forthcoming annual general meeting.

Florence Pierre is a French citizen born in 1951 and resident in Belgium. She has over 30 years of international corporate finance practice holding senior positions at BNP, Financière Rothschild, Degroof Corporate Finance and her own M&A advisory boutique. Florence has an international perspective having worked in Chicago, New York, Paris and Brussels.

She is also a Non-Executive Director of 3i Infrastructure plc, a FTSE 250 company. Florence has taught economics and finance, published a number of books and articles, and been a member of several entrepreneurship and innovation committees, both governmental and professional.

The Institute of Directors in Ireland (IoD) has reiterated its call for transparency in the process of appointment to State boards for the year ahead and has urged Government departments to take a consistent approach to clearly advertising State board vacancies on department websites.

Transparency in the appointment process to State boards is needed to ensure that candidates with the appropriate skills are appointed to these boards and that the skills requirements of the board is always the primary consideration when appointments are being made in the year ahead.

Research conducted in 2012 with members of the Institute of Directors in Ireland who already sit on State boards, found that the majority (74%) of directors surveyed does not believe that the process of appointment to State boards is fair and transparent and a further 64% argued that State board positions are not advertised widely enough, despite the policy introduced by the Government in April 2011 to advertise State board vacancies openly.*

In addition to vacancies on State boards being advertised on www.publicjobs.ie, the Institute of Directors in Ireland believes that Government departments should take a consistent approach to listing the boards under the aegis of each department, detailing their composition, outlining the term of office for board members and to clearly advertise vacancies on State boards on relevant department websites, which at the moment, is not done consistently.

For example, the Department of Transport, Tourism & Sport appears to be leading the way by providing clear and accessible information about the composition of the boards under its remit and listing open vacancies. The IoD would urge all relevant departments, which have not done so already, to implement a similar approach to increase transparency and confidence in the process of appointment.

Commenting, Maura Quinn, Chief Executive of the Institute of Directors in Ireland, said: “No doubt there will be a number of vacancies arising on State boards in the coming year and if the Government wants to fulfil its commitment to increasing transparency and accountability in the process then it must ensure that all ministers and departments fully implement the policy it introduced almost two years ago.

“Expressions of interest for State boards should be given due and fair consideration and candidates for State board positions should always be selected and appointed on the basis of the skills requirements of the board. This is in the best long-term interests of these bodies and ensures that they have a suitably qualified and experienced board to provide the strategic leadership required.”

Banks in the European Union may need to comply with an international liquidity rule before competitors in other parts of the globe as part of a deal on how the bloc should implement Basel banking standards.

Nations are weighing calls from the European Parliament for an “accelerated timetable” to apply the so-called liquidity coverage ratio, according to a document obtained by Bloomberg News.

Ireland, which holds the rotating presidency of the EU, is pressing for an agreement to have the rule take full effect on Jan. 1, 2018, a year ahead of a deadline set last month by global central bank chiefs, according to the document, which was drawn up by the Irish government and is dated Feb. 8.

The LCR is part of an overhaul of global financial rules, known as Basel III, intended to prevent a repeat of the financial crisis that followed the 2008 collapse of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. The rule would force banks to hold enough easy-to-sell assets to survive a 30-day credit squeeze.

The EU has struggled to agree on legislation to apply Basel III, as governments and the EU Parliament clashed on a range of issues including curbing banker bonuses, capital rules for systemically important banks, and the liquidity requirements.

The international 2019 start date for the liquidity ratio was part of a package of proposed rules decided by central bank chiefs last month to water down the standard amid concerns that it could harm interbank lending and stifle nascent economic recovery. Global regulators had previously planned to implement the requirement fully from 2015.

Ireland will hold its next negotiation meeting on the proposed law with legislators on Feb. 19, a spokeswoman for the presidency said in an e-mail.

National officials will discuss the draft law at a meeting later this week, said the spokeswoman, who couldn’t be named in line with official policy.

Source:Bloomberg

Barclays has announced that effective 1 March 2013 Diane de Saint Victor will take up the appointment of Non-Executive Director.

Diane De Saint Victor is currently General Counsel and Company Secretary and a member of the Group Executive Committee of ABB Limited, the publicly listed international power and automation technologies company based in Switzerland, where her responsibilities include Head of Legal and Integrity Group. She was formerly Senior Vice President and General Counsel of EADS, the European aerospace and defence company.

Commenting, Sir David Walker, Group Chairman, said, ‘I am pleased to announce Diane’s appointment to the Barclays Board. Her background in legal and regulatory matters and in leading cultural change at ABB will bring a valuable perspective to the Board as we implement the TRANSFORM agenda and embed Barclays new Purpose and Values. Her appointment also underlines Barclays commitment to diversity as we seek to achieve our aim for 2013 of having the Board comprise 20% women’.

There is no additional information required to be disclosed pursuant to paragraph LR9.6.13R of the Listing Rules of the Financial Services Authority.

Barclays is a major global financial services provider engaged in personal banking, credit cards, corporate and investment banking and wealth and investment management with an extensive international presence in Europe, the Americas, Africa and Asia.

With over 300 years of history and expertise in banking, Barclays operates in over 50 countries and employs 140,000 people. Barclays moves, lends, invests and protects money for customers and clients worldwide.

For further information about Barclays, please visit our website www.barclays.com.

If your business is looking to strengthen it’s board then it maybe worth considering a non executive director, who will be able to add additional expertise and skills necessary to drive your business to it’s next level of success.