Activist Riles First Before Showdown
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BUSINESS WITH PERSONALITY NUMBERS GAME TIME MACHINE WE TAKE HOME SECRETARY A 90-YEAR-OLD CLASSIC ON HIS IMMIGRATION OUT FOR A SPIN P20 REVIEW P11 TUESDAY 25 JUNE 2019 ISSUE 3,399 CITYAM.COM FREE Activist riles First before LABOUR’S showdown ALEXANDRA ROGERS @city_amrogers THE ACTIVIST investor CLIMATE seeking to overhaul transport giant First Group at a showdown today has said it believes more shareholders will join it in voting against the firm’s chairman. Coast Capital, which owns a near 10 per cent stake in First, STRATEGY has been agitating for a radical shake-up of the company, including the splitting of its UK and US assets, withdrawing from Britain’s railways and overhauling its board by appointing six of its own nominees. Yesterday Coast STUNS CITY received a boost after Sky OWEN BENNETT would be a catastrophe for Britain’s fundamentally undermine the entire financial institutions to ensure the UK is News reported Schroders and business community and the country’s capital market system and with it meeting its climate commitments. Columbia Threadneedle @owenjbennett economy if it was ever carried out.” decades of stability and investor trust.” “This means mobilising private sector Investments, which own nine SHADOW chancellor John McDonnell Mervyn Metcalf, managing director of Savvas Savouri, chief economist at resources for green investment, but it per cent and 10 per cent in sent shockwaves through the Square Mile Dean Street Advisers, warned such Toscafund, was even more damning, also means preventing financial First respectively, said they yesterday amid warnings that his plans interference in the free movement of dismissing McDonnell’s plans as institutions from actively contributing to would oppose the re-election to tackle climate change could capital risked London’s place as a “infantile mumbo-jumbo”. planetary heating or exposing our of chairman Wolfhart Hauser. undermine the entire financial system. global financial centre. He continued: “What we have economy to financial instability,” he said. Coast’s chief investment In a speech to trade body UK Finance, “Clearly, more has to be done to from McDonnell is a wish to McDonnell, who has invited Extinction officer James Rasteh told City McDonnell promised a future Labour tackle climate change but a create a command economy, Rebellion protesters to brief his policy A.M: “We are thrilled and government would delist companies with government’s role should not be which he has miraculously team, pledged that a Labour government grateful and believe there are poor green credentials from the London to interfere in a highly efficient written the perfect playbook for. would create a Sustainable Investment many more to come.” Stock Exchange. and globally respected market to Deluded does not do him justice.” Board – comprised of the chancellor, Rasteh added that another He also unveiled a plan to stop money arbitrarily determine a ‘climate Setting out his vision for business secretary and Bank of England top shareholder told Coast being invested in companies whose change culprit’,” he said. increased regulation of governor – to oversee private investment that it had “had it up to the business model or actions run contrary to “The impact of these proposals the City, McDonnell decisions. back teeth” with the current Labour’s environmental policy. is far reaching and may claimed the “The Sustainable Investment Board will chairman. Many in the City reacted with disbelief government have responsibility for ensuring that the A First spokesperson said: to the plans. Top financier Michael John needed to do Bank of England is doing its bit to stop “Coast’s aim is to seize control Spencer was scathing, describing the McDonnell more to money flowing to projects that will kill of a UK plc without paying a policies as “financial totalitarianism”. The has set out “improve the the planet or destabilise our economy,” premium. Their plans are not former Tory party treasurer said : “It his plans fitness” of he revealed. in the best interests of all shareholders.” FTSE 100 ▲ 71476.69 +9.19 FTSE 250 ▼ 19,299.68 -24.92 DOW ▲ 26,727.54 +8.41 NASDAQ ▼ 8,005.70 -26.01 £/$ ▼ 1.273 -0.001 £/€ ▼ 1.117 -0.003 €/$ ▲ 1.140 +0.003 AND RECEIVE £100 TO SPEND AT GAUCHO 02 NEWS TUESDAY 25 JUNE 2019 CITYAM.COM MAKE MINE A BARREL Sailors deliver wine to the constable of the Tower of London in a ceremony dating to the 14th century THE CITY VIEW The purpose of a think tank is up for debate O YOU KNOW what a think tank is, and can you name one? An amusing survey published yesterday revealed a Dyawning gap between the Westminster bubble and the average Brit. Just 75 people out of 2,000 could name a think tank. “So few people know what think tanks are that these numbers are not statistically significant,” the surveyors concluded in the report. Unperturbed by their anonymity, this morning sees two very different think tanks pitching for headlines. The Institute for Fiscal Studies, or IFS – named by just 0.3 per cent of people in the survey above – has published a breakdown of the tax reforms recently proposed by former foreign secretary and Tory leadership contender Boris Johnson. Meanwhile, the notably more Thatcherite Centre for Policy Studies (CPS) – named by 0.2 SAILORS from HMS Enterprise yesterday delivered wine to the Tower of London in a ceremony called the constable’s dues. The tradition represents the Crown’s authority over the City of London. In the Middle Ages, kings believed they had the right to levy per cent of people – has published a pamphlet on the wild taxes on the River Thames. The constable of the Tower of London was empowered to enforce these tolls on the King’s behalf. discrepancies between the UK’s regions when it comes to attracting foreign investment. Both publications are essentially tackling the topic of fairness and equality in Britain. The IFS, the country’s most independent fiscal watchdog, makes some legitimate points regarding Johnson’s plan to raise the higher rate threshold for income tax to £80,000 – primarily, the Swiss bans EU exchanges extent to which the move would benefit wealthy pensioners more than salaried employees. This is because the national insurance system to some extent offsets the benefit of a higher threshold, and pensioners do not pay NI on their incomes. If that is Johnson’s intention, so be it, but if he wants to help in row over equivalence today’s workers he could combine a more realistic increase in the higher rate threshold with a rise in the NI threshold for JAMES BOOTH everyone in Britain. change infrastructure in the event of Six, the operator of the Swiss ex- @Jamesdbooth1 non-extension”. change, said it welcomed the Swiss Separately, the CPS lays bare the astonishing economic gap “Trading venues in the EU would government’s decision to enact pro- between the south east and many other parts of the country. To THE SWISS government said yesterday thus be prohibited from offering or tective measures as it meant EU par- attract exporting businesses and greater investment to poorer it was ready to ban stock exchanges in facilitating trading in certain shares ticipants could still access the Swiss the European Union from trading of Swiss companies from that date,” domestic market and could trade areas, it proposes more low-tax “opportunity zones” and free Swiss shares, in a row that could have the Swiss government said in a state- Swiss shares directly at Six. ports (which would exist outside the UK for customs purposes). repercussions for the City post-Brexit. ment yesterday. Pan-European stock trading plat- These ideas demonstrate one purpose for think tanks, as a The move follows the EU’s refusal to The row has implications for the form Aquis Exchange said; “If equiva- playground for policy ideas that can be debated and picked up extend stock market equivalence for UK’s financial sector as it highlights lence is not extended, and if the Swiss Switzerland, after Brussels grew frus- the danger of relying on equivalence Federal Department of Finance (FDF) by inquisitive politicians. The IFS demonstrates another key trated with a lack of movement on an for access to the EU’s financial rescinds recognition of EU trading purpose: holding politicians to account. Think tanks are often EU-Swiss accord. markets as the recognition can be venues for the trading of Swiss securi- divisive, controversial, and, for much of the public, below the Stock market equivalence is the withdrawn unilaterally. ties, then Aquis Exchange will take recognition that Switzerland’s regula- The risk of being locked out of the the necessary steps to comply with radar – but without them our democracy would be in a weaker tions are as tough as the EU’s own. EU market has pushed many UK- the directive.” state. The EU’s equivalence agreement based financial institutions to open The relations between the EU and with Switzerland is set to expire on 30 EU branches in order to keep trading Switzerland are governed by more June. The EU has signalled it is not throughout the bloc after Brexit. than 120 bilateral agreements. willing to extend the deadline. The EU’s hard line with Switzerland They are set to be replaced with a po- In retaliation the Swiss government is also linked to Brexit as a lenient ap- litical treaty, however the Swiss gov- said it would withdraw recognition proach to the Swiss could encourage ernment earlier this month asked for from trading venues in the EU from 1 London to seek softer terms, an EU further clarifications before it would Follow us on Twitter @cityam July to “protect the Swiss stock ex- diplomat told Reuters.