Wednesday newspaper round-up: Executive pay, BHS, Ofcom
A powerful investor group has thrown down the gauntlet to companies over "excessive" and "ineffectual" executive pay,presenting a 10-point plan it says will “rebuild trust” over bosses’ high levels remuneration. The report from the Investment Association, which represents firms managing £5.5 trillion of assets, said it wanted to “simplify pay structures for company bosses” and “improve the alignment of their interests with those of shareholders who own their businesses”. – Telegraph
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Dominic Chappell, the former owner of BHS, will attempt to repair his battered reputation on Wednesday after MPs damned him as the “most egregious example of individual greed”. The former bankrupt has confirmed that he received a legal letter from Sir Philip Green, who has threatened Mr Chappell and three of his other Retail Acquisition directors with legal action following their disastrous deal. – Telegraph
Britain has suffered a bigger fall in real wages since the financial crisis than any other advanced country apart from Greece, research shows. A report by the TUC, published on Wednesday, shows that real earnings have declined more than 10% since the credit crunch began in 2007, leaving the UK equal bottom in a league table of wages growth. – Guardian
Apple’s CEO Tim Cook has told investors that augmented reality is going to be “huge” and that the company is investing in the technology. Responding to a question about Pokémon Go Cook said that the game had shown that “AR can be really great”. “We have been and continue to invest in AR in the long run,” he said. “We’ll see whether it’s the next computing platform, but regardless it will be huge.” – Guardian
A leading London hotel could become the centre of a bidding war after a consortium of Saudi and UK family wealth funds made a $1.3 billion offer to buy Grosvenor House. The UK family office of 3 Associates submitted the all-equity bid yesterday and said most of the cash came from a Saudi family that runs a private wealth fund in Dubai. The offer also covers majority stakes in New York’s Plaza and Dream Downtown hotels. – The Times
The proposals from Ofcom went much wider than merely shaking up BT’s corporate structure. The telecoms watchdog claimed that its new schemes are no less than a “vision for the long term”, a radical attempt to make life better for both BT’s rivals and consumers everywhere. Sharon White, Ofcom’s chief executive, said: “We’re pressing ahead with the biggest shake-up of telecoms in a decade to make sure the market is delivering the best possible services for people and business across the UK.” – The Times
Itochu, Japan’s third-largest trading house, has come under a rare attack by a US activist short-seller who questioned its accounts over a $1.5bn investment in Colombian coal mining assets. The Japanese group on Wednesday said that it has taken proper accounting measures and disputed the allegations made in a critical report issued by Glaucus Research, a California-based short-seller, which accused Itochu of overstating its net profits by ¥153bn ($1.5bn) in the 2015-2016 financial year. In a statement, Itochu said its books have been approved by its auditing firm. – Financial Times