Author: rogerwlawson

Dematerialisation and the Digitisation Taskforce Final Report

The scrapping of paper share certificates for listed companies has been planned for many years. It is something I have strongly supported for 25 years although this is a complex area and it is important to protect shareholder rights during this transition. You can read more about the issues on this Sharesoc web page: https://www.sharesoc.org/campaigns/shareholder-rights-campaign/

The interim report and consultation from the Digitisation TaskForce showed strong support for this move – to quote: “almost universal support for the removal of paper shares”.

Another need is for the removal of the need to pay dividends via cheque – they should all be paid by bank transfer – a safer and more secure system. Despite the fact that I personally only have paper share certificates for a few private companies (which it is not proposed to change) and most of my holdings are either in ISAs, in Crest accounts or other broker nominee accounts, I still receive a few dividend cheques. This can make it horribly complicated to identify and trace all dividends.

The Final Digitisation Report covers some of the technical issues that need to be dealt with in the conversion. There are still many people holding paper share certificates in listed companies (over a million I understand)  often as a result of privatisation events or new issues such as in VCTs.

Companies (i.e. “Issuers”) also wish to improve their communications with the beneficial owners of their shares which at present can be very haphazard – companies do not know who owns their shares which is a major defect.

The Final Digitisation Report comprehensively covers the issues and I won’t even attempt to cover it in detail. But certainly it is worth reading – see https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/digitisation-taskforce-july-2025 . There are few points worth highlighting:

  1. Should it be done in a “big bang” for all issuers or a gradual process over some time? If KYC checks are necessary then it is going to be practically difficult particularly as many certificated shareholders may have lost their certificates. It could take years to complete the process so surely the sooner it is started the better.
  • The Report makes a number of recommendations regarding the transition including the “establishment of a Technical Group of relevant experts” which I agree with. There may be changes to legislation required (as in the Companies Act) so great care must be taken to ensure shareholder rights are not lost and any new systems operate smoothly. This cannot be rushed but it does need to be progressed without delay.
  • Another recommendation is that all shares should transition into the intermediated securities chain, i.e. digitised registers should only be an intermediate step. This is a questionable step as it might frustrate public access to a list of all shareholders which needs to be retained in case of the need for access to highlight shareholder concerns. There is also a potential problem with the separation of legal ownership from the Ultimate Beneficial Owner (the individual shareholder), who under the proposed Model 3 would become reliant on the nominee who has the legal status (see Page 33 last paragraph).  This is a major issue which the Final Report has ducked.
  • There are recommendations to improve the legal standing of beneficial owners which is certainly required.
  • The Report also includes a “Bill of Shareholder Rights” (see page 24) which certainly covers the key requirements of most shareholders.
  • The Final Report does cover all the issues that need to be covered by a Technical Group but does not resolve them.

In summary, the Final Flint Report may note all the issues but does not clearly solve them.  

There does need to be back-up systems because relying on digital communications alone is risky. For example a fox chewed through our fibre internet cable at home this week. Our back-up BT 4G line did switch in but proved unreliable. Have these potential issues been taken into account?

Roger Lawson (Twitter: https://x.com/RogerWLawson  )

You can obtain notifications of new posts in future by following me on Twitter (now “X”) – see https://x.com/RogerWLawson where new blog posts are usually mentioned.

Financial Advice – Does it Help? 

To follow on from my previous blog post, simplifying financial advice may help some people but one key question is: “Does financial advice actually improve wealth?”

The FCA attempted to answer that question in a Research Note – see https://www.fca.org.uk/publication/research-notes/bridging-advice-gap-estimating-relationship-between-financial-advice-wealth.pdf .

Here’s a key paragraph from the report: “Our findings suggest that financial advice positively supports wealth accumulation, especially in the initial years after advice is received. Our empirical findings reflect the qualitative insights from the literature which suggest financial advice helps consumers to avoid costly mistakes. Examples of these costly mistakes include inefficient tax planning, excessive cash holdings, or a non-diversified wealth portfolio. The short-term benefits of receiving advice could reflect consumers taking informed decisions that avoid these issues, providing an initial boost to wealth”.

One key message is that taking some financial advice is particularly worthwhile if you suddenly become richer.

Roger Lawson (Twitter: https://x.com/RogerWLawson  )

You can obtain notifications of new posts in future by following me on Twitter (now “X”) – see https://x.com/RogerWLawson where new blog posts are usually mentioned.

Biggest Financial Advice Shake-up in More Than a Decade 

 I have just been reading an FT article with the above title. The FCA is to change the regulations about financial advice so that companies can give “targeted advice” but without getting into the costly need to give personalised advice by doing a full customer review. At least that is what I understand it to mean.

What’s wrong with the system at present? Those who most need such advice as they are financially ignorant tend not to get it because it is too expensive. The feeling is that many people are keeping too much cash in savings accounts rather than investing in stocks or bonds that would give better long-term returns.

Will this be a solution? Perhaps but it is not yet clear (to me at least) how this will work in practice and what exactly is “targeted advice”. The details of how this will work have yet to be disclosed.

I would suggest this is a poor solution to the problem. The better answer is to get folks more educated so they make the right choices when investing or saving. Education of the young in schools and colleges is not good enough so they fail to learn how to manage their own money well and how the financial world works.

Did the FCA actually consult those folks knowledgeable about financial matters rather than just those making money from retail investors? I do not recall any such consultations. This looks like an idea thought up by financial institutions to avoid giving personalised advice and will just be a cheap way around the problems that currently exist. It may protect those who currently provide advice from their responsibility to give appropriate advice but that is not what we need.

Roger Lawson (Twitter: https://x.com/RogerWLawson  )

You can obtain notifications of new posts in future by following me on Twitter (now “X”) – see https://x.com/RogerWLawson where new blog posts are usually mentioned.

Rainbow Pedestrian Crossings – We Don’t Need Them!

 We all know what a zebra crossing is. It’s somewhere clearly marked (in black and white stripes on the road) as somewhere that pedestrians can cross a road in safety and where they have priority over vehicles.

The latest lunatic council to ignore this principle is the London borough of Camden who have painted a crossing in white, blue and pink at the junction of Tavistock Place and Marchmont Street (the transgender flag colours).

Other councils have similarly decided to undermine road safety by painting some crossings in non-standard colours to promote their favourite political or gender preference. But thankfully a Christian campaign group may be challenging this with a judicial review. See this note on Local Government Lawyer for the legal basis of the challenge: https://localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk/transport-and-highways/443-transport-and-highways-news/61503-london-borough-facing-judicial-review-threat-over-road-crossing-painted-in-colours-of-transgender-pride-flag .

Let us hope that this challenge is pursued. We have too much time and resources wasted on sexual politics already.

Roger Lawson (Twitter: https://x.com/RogerWLawson  )

You can obtain notifications of new posts in future by following me on Twitter (now “X”) – see https://x.com/RogerWLawson where new blog posts are usually mentioned.

Summer Viewing – Albert Speer

It’s summer and I have no urge to undertake any serious reading or writing. But one interesting TV programme I happened to watch was an interview on the BBC by three historians with Albert Speer in 1971 – see https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episodes/m002fmbs/albert-speer . This was quite interesting as he was the German arms minister during the second world war and someone who kept the Nazi regime in power for far longer than it should have lived.

Speer has always been a fascinating character. How could someone who was clearly very intelligent manage to get involved in the regime of Adolf Hitler, and supported him almost to the end? It is still a puzzle which his interview does not altogether explain.

He did get convicted in the Nuremberg trials but only received a 20-year prison sentence when most of other leading Nazis were hanged. His escape can probably be put down to him admitting guilt and apologising for the nazi regime although he also denied knowledge of the holocaust.

He died of a stroke in London in 1981, allegedly in bed with a lady friend. There is a good biography of Speer on Wikipedia.

Roger Lawson (Twitter: https://x.com/RogerWLawson  )

You can obtain notifications of new posts in future by following me on Twitter (now “X”) – see https://x.com/RogerWLawson where new blog posts are usually mentioned.

Summer Reading – Trump Style

With Donald Trump having such an influence on international events, I thought I had best get up to speed on his background and experience. So I have been reading the Art of the Deal first published in 2016 at 384 pages. Don’t let the length put you off as it’s quite an easy read.

It’s really the story of his life up until the date of him writing the book and covers how he achieved some success in property development in New York. His father was a businessman in the development of housing but Donald moved more up-market and into larger developments, particularly in Manhattan.

It’s interesting in how he got people to back him when he had little experience and few financial resources. He was clearly always keen to impress people by putting on a glossy front.

How much the book might tell you about his personality is not clear but in his second term as President he does seem to be acting mainly rationally and is attempting to solve some of the world’s problems – albeit with mixed success. It can do no harm to read this book and get some impression of Trump’s management style.

Roger Lawson (Twitter: https://x.com/RogerWLawson  )

You can obtain notifications of new posts in future by following me on Twitter (now “X”) – see https://x.com/RogerWLawson where new blog posts are usually mentioned.

Maven Renovar VCT (MRV) – Requisition Request

The company has announced that it has received a requisition from Paul Jourdan, the former manager, to replace the board – see https://www.investegate.co.uk/announcement/rns/maven-renovar-vct-plc–mrv/receipt-of-requisition-request/8955955 .

As a shareholder in the company I have an interest in this matter. My immediate feeling is that I will need some convincing to back Mr Jourdan. This VCT has been one of the worst performing and from my records the total return in the last 3 years has been -22.2%, -22.6% and -2.4%. My records go back to 2005 and there have been several mergers and changes of name since then.

However I will wait to see the full arguments before coming to a conclusion on how I should vote on the requisition.

Roger Lawson (Twitter: https://x.com/RogerWLawson  )

You can obtain notifications of new posts in future by following me on Twitter (now “X”) – see https://x.com/RogerWLawson where new blog posts are usually mentioned.

Nobody Likes a LISA

The Parliament Treasury Select Committee have published a negative report on Lifetime ISAs (LISAs). They say: “The Lifetime ISA’s (LISA) dual-purpose design may be diverting people away from more suitable products and putting part of their savings at risk”. See https://committees.parliament.uk/committee/158/treasury-committee/news/208057/complex-lifetime-isa-increases-risk-of-poor-financial-decisions/ for more details.

The AIC agrees with them and have issued this press release:

AIC CALLS FOR A RETHINK OF LIFETIME ISAS

– ISA regime should be simplified to encourage a culture of investment

The Association of Investment Companies (AIC) has responded to today’s publication of the Treasury Committee’s report on the Lifetime Individual Savings Account (LISA).

Richard Stone, Chief Executive of the Association of Investment Companies (AIC), said: “It’s time for a fundamental reform of the ISA regime. The ISA framework needs to be simplified so it encourages a culture of investment. This is vital to help ensure increased financial resilience and wealth, as well as making sure the regime delivers value for money for taxpayers.

“We share many of the concerns raised in the Treasury Committee’s report and agree that the dual purpose of the LISA could lead consumers to make poor asset allocation decisions. It’s particularly concerning that consumers may be using cash to save over the long term for retirement rather than accessing the stock market.

“The complexity of the product, identified by the Treasury Committee, is an issue for the ISA regime as a whole. We are calling on the government to use this opportunity for an overall simplification of the system and the creation of a single investment ISA.”

My opinion:

The ISA regime certainly needs simplifying to make it more attractive to investors and to reduce administration costs. Let’s do it!

Roger Lawson (Twitter: https://x.com/RogerWLawson  )

You can obtain notifications of new posts in future by following me on Twitter (now “X”) – see https://x.com/RogerWLawson where new blog posts are usually mentioned.

The UK’s Modern Industrial Strategy

The UK Government has published its Industrial Strategy – see https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/the-uks-modern-industrial-strategy-2025 .  It claims the Industrial Strategy is a 10-year plan to increase business investment and grow the industries of the future in the UK. It says the Strategy will make it quicker and easier for business to invest and will provide the certainty and stability needed for long-term investment decisions, but this is mainly hogwash.

With politics in such chaos at present (it is uncertain who might win the next General Election) betting on stability in government would be rash. But it might be worthwhile to skim the executive summary. The document is short on specifics although it does point to certain things that the government intends to tackle – such as the burden of regulation, the speed of planning, the high cost of industrial electricity and the reduction in regulatory burdens to speed innovation – previous governments have had such objectives but have conspicuously failed to achieve them. Why? Because the political leadership has been weak and the civil service has been adept at resisting change. In addition we are a nation of “nimbys” – full of people who oppose revolution in any form.

Even when some change is supported, implementation tends to be abysmal, as has been highlighted by the recent debacle at HS2. Originally planned to run from London to Birmingham, Leeds and Manchester the last two arms have axed but the cost will still be more than £100 billion – a quite fantastic figure.

This is a management problem in essence but the Government thinks that throwing money at the problems will resolve the difficulties – such as a new £500 million “Local Innovation Partnership Fund”. Socialist governments are always adept at spending money but not on how to manage where it is spent.

In summary I have no hope that the latest “Industrial Strategy” will improve the UK economy.

Postscript: This is what the AIC had to say on the Government’s proposals, which I agree with: Richard Stone, Chief Executive of the Association of Investment Companies (AIC), said: “It’s encouraging to see the government recognise VCTs’ important role in the venture ecosystem. VCTs could do even more to support the government’s growth ambitions if they had greater freedom to invest in scale-ups. We’d like the government to increase the investment limits and abolish the age limits for VCT investments. This would allow VCTs to effectively mobilise capital to invest in more British companies with great growth potential.”

Roger Lawson (Twitter: https://x.com/RogerWLawson  )

You can obtain notifications of new posts in future by following me on Twitter (now “X”) – see https://x.com/RogerWLawson where new blog posts are usually mentioned.

Assisted Dying Won’t Be Easy

The Assisted Dying Bill was passed in the Commons last week, but if you think that will make it easy, think again. Health Secretary Wes Streeting has said there is no budget for an assisted dying service. The Bill is not only complex but requires legal and medical advice to make sure you or your carers and doctors don’t make it invalid.

There is probably a business opportunity here that someone might wish to take up. The provision of low cost legal and medical advice to someone who wishes to invoke the new law is a service that is required. A register of doctors who are willing to assist would also be a good idea.

In the meantime, expect a rearguard action by those who oppose the Bill in the House of Lords with numerous impractical amendments put forward which will surely be rejected when the Bill returns to the Commons.

Don’t let us lose this opportunity to provide support to people who want to die.

Roger Lawson (Twitter: https://x.com/RogerWLawson  )

You can obtain notifications of new posts in future by following me on Twitter (now “X”) – see https://x.com/RogerWLawson where new blog posts are usually mentioned.