The Patisserie Valerie saga, covered in the last Governance Watch, is the story that just keeps on giving on corporate governance.
The Chief and CFO had “second helpings of shares despite no explanation from the chain” reported the Financial Times, following up with a report about £2.9m made from bonus share schemes, and then the company’s admission that it had awarded these bonuses without informing shareholders.
There is irony in the timing of a £500,000 fine levied on Facebook today by the UK Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) for two breaches of the Data Protection Act in the scandal involving Cambridge Analytica. The breaches occurred before the latest European General Data Protection (GDPR) came into effect in May, therefore the £500,000 cap is one set by the UK’s Data Protection Act 1998.
There are so many good corporate governance reasons to read this story with interest.
The Bank of England has created a new role of ‘conflicts officer’ in the wake of the events resulting in the resignation of its Deputy Governor, Charlotte Hogg. I covered that story at the time here, on Forbes.
One might think that gender diversity could be the easiest component to achieve of any bid to get true cognitive diversity around a boardroom table. But, despite a great deal of effort in the last six years from the U.K. government, CBI support, and cheerleading from a plethora of independent bodies - all well supported by coverage from the mainstream British business media - one sad fact remains true: progress on gender diversity in U.K. boardrooms seems to stall whenever it thinks nobody is watching.
This is not the place to dwell on ‘why is that, exactly?’ But it is a good place to ask what it is that needs to change.
