The chairman and founder of Wetherspoons, Tim Martin, has attacked government policies, including the living wage, after reporting a £20m drop in full-year profits. Martin also lashed out at the limitations of corporate governance systems, saying 'Common sense, management skills and business savvy are more important to commercial success than board structures.'
Sports Direct shareholders show strong support for Mike Ashley
Sports Direct founder Mike Ashley has received the support of 88% of investors at the companies AGM. This comes after vocal opposition from shareholder groups and unions to Ashley's corporate governance practices and failure to attend four board meetings. Despite these criticisms, Ashley won more support than at last year's AGM, where 13.5 % of investors voted against him.
Banks ready code of conduct to crack down on forex manipulation
Central bankers say news global rules for foreign exchange traders will help authorities to combat forex manipulation and root out wrongdoers more easily. The code is being worked on by central bankers from the biggest 15 foreign exchange markets around the world. They intend for the new code to be applied worldwide. The code is currently expected to be ready by May 2017.
Energy watchdog highlights possible abuse of wholesale gas and electricity markets
The UK energy watchdog is probing signs of abuse in the gas and electricity markets as part of an investigation using new enforcement powers. The Office of Gas and Electricity Markets (Ofgem) listed several tactics that would count as market abuse in an open letter on its website this week. Ofgem did not comment on whether it had received specific allegations of market-rigging, but said that it was 'important that market participants understand the legislation in order to comply with it'.
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