The days of the apathetic shareholder are numbered. The
growth in the number of cases of shareholder activism in recent
years in the UK reflects the increasing willingness of
investors to intervene in the day-to-day control, strategy and
management of UK public companies. Investors are progressively
using the rights afforded to them by UK company law and
regulation to make their voices heard rather than voting with
their feet and selling their shares. Over the past few years,
the UK markets have seen shareholders target a wide spectrum of
corporate issues and implement tactics that have left board
rooms increasingly concerned. The open letters sent by the
principals at Knight Vinke Asset Management to the board of
HSBC in September and October of 2007 were a very public
example of sustained shareholder lobbying. The HSBC situation
clearly demonstrates the increasing willingness amongst
investors to broadcast their perceptions about the
management...