Corporate governance codes make much of non-executives’ independence nowadays – so it is surprising to see one of our biggest property companies putting a director of one of its biggest customers on its board.
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That Reed Elsevier (LON:REL) has changed its chief executive is noteworthy, but not as much as the fact it has replaced a British manager with a Swede. Foreigners now account for 42 FTSE 100 boardroom seats: before long they will have a majority of the top UK corporate positions.
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Now that Kraft Foods (NYSE:KFT) has made its hostile bid for Cadbury it is worth remembering what a hostile takeover offer is. It is one that the directors reject – not necessarily one the shareholders oppose.
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For decades to come, Debenhams (LON:DEB) will be a business school case study. It is also the story of the 21st century boom and bust - bought by private equity, loaded with debt, floated expensively, shunned, an Icelandic target, forced to raise new capital – and now the private-equity funds have exited.
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Lord Sugar’s new assistant Karren Brady, chief executive of Birmingham City football club, may become as famous as the entrepreneur and TV star himself, but neither present a representative picture of British business. Yet what other corporate leaders could the general public recognize, either by name or face?
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If stock lending is so bad the regulators have considered banning it, why is selling votes any better? Treasury minister Lord Myners seems determined to end the concept of one share, one vote.
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Why should ordinary companies be punished for the banks’ mistakes? Tough new corporate governance procedures designed to check failed financial institutions look like being extended to other businesses.
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Bang! Sir David Walker’s report closes the banks’ stable door after the money has gone. But how long before his tough boardroom measures become ‘best practice’ for all companies, i.e compulsory?

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Have we made chairing a company so hard that seats cannot be filled? There are vacancies in the centre of more than half a dozen big boardrooms but the headhunters don’t have that many names on their lists.
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If 71-year-old Bernie Madoff gets 150 years in jail for a $65bn fraud, what deterrent is there against going for a $130bn scam - or $260bn? Or why not do a serious crime?
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