BP shareholders reject CEO's pay deal
BP's shareholders rejected the remuneration package of CEO Bob Dudley at its annual general meeting on 14 April. Just under 60% of investors rejected the 20% increase to Mr Dudley's pay, which would have brought his total pay packet to almost £14 million.
The result is one of the largest rejections of a corporate pay deal in the UK, and although it is non-binding, earlier Chairman Carl-Henric Svanberg had acknowledged the disquiet and promised to review future pay terms.
The pay deal was approved in 2014 by 96% of shareholders in the last binding vote on remuneration.
Didier Drogba's charity investigated by Commission
The Charity Commission has 'serious regulatory concerns' and is investigating a charity run by Didier Drogba, the former Chelsea footballer. The investigation follows claims made by the Daily Mail that just £14,115 out of £1.7 million donated to the Didier Drogba Foundation had gone to help its target causes in Africa.
In a statement, Drogba has called the claims 'false and defamatory' and said that 'There is no fraud, no corruption, no mismanagement and no lies.' He is threatening legal action against the Daily Mail. He also suggested that through its actions, the publication was 'jeopardising the lives of many thousands of African children'.
The Daily Mail says it 'stands by every word of this important story' and did not allege corruption or fraud.
'Hammer blow' to tax evasion
George Osborne has announced regulations designed to create automatic sharing of information regarding the true owners of complex shell companies and overseas trusts.
The UK will cooperate with France, Germany, Spain and Italy on the transparency initiative, which Mr Osborne called 'a hammer blow against those that would illegally evade taxes and hide their wealth in the dark corners of the financial system.'
The announcement follows the Panama Papers leak, the largest information leak in history, which exposed practices in the offshore financial system.
FCA's tougher rules shrink consumer credit industry
More than 1,400 consumer credit companies have left the industry, after the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) took over regulation from the Office of Fair Trading in April 2014. The FCA began regulating the sector after concerns over lenders charging excessively high interest rates which were leading to high levels of consumer debt. At the time, some lenders charged over 5,000% interest.
Following the FCA's takeover of the sector's regulation, businesses had to apply to the watchdog in order to continue operating. According to reports, payday lenders have particularly suffered due to the change, with loans down to 1.8 million in the first period of 2015, from 6.3 million in the same period in 2013.
Volkswagen plans to cut bonuses
Volkswagen plans to cut bonuses for top executives following unrest among shareholders in the wake of the emissions scandal. The car manufacturer promised a 'significant reduction' in performance-based payments to members of its management board.
The move comes in advance of a challenging few weeks for VW. It is due to present a fix for the 565,000 diesel cars that were fitted with defeat devices to a US court in order to avoid being fined. Its annual results are due later in April – these will go some way to revealing the full costs of the scandal for the company.
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