PRESS DIGEST - Financial Times - Dec 31

BIG COMPANIES CULL EXECUTIVE DIRECTORS

The effects of the Higgs report, which was published in January 2003 and called for strong executive representation on boards, can be seen in Britain's largest listed companies, which have sharply reduced the number of senior managers on their boards. Non-executive directors now outnumber executive directors in the FTSE 100 by more than two to one, a trend which is also apparent in smaller firms, with Deloitte reporting that the average FTSE 250 board had five non-executive and three executive directors in 2007, compared with an almost 50:50 split 5 years ago.

RISING TOLL OF STRESSED WORKERS IN SQUARE MILE

The last 12 months have seen an increase in referrals to city-based psychiatric practices as more workers in the Square Mile seek help dealing with stress, anxiety and depression. Mark Beadle, chief executive of Capio Nightingale Hospitals, which provides private psychiatry treatment, said "our programmes are up 30 to 40 percent this year compared to last year" and that "there is no doubt that the stressful lives that people lead in high-pressure environments lead to the things we have to treat."

FSA FINES FOR 2007 LOWEST IN SEVEN YEARS

Despite claiming that it intended to take a more robust approach to policing the financial services industry, the Financial Services Authority handed out 23 fines in 2007 that totalled 5.3 million pounds, compared with 28 fines totalling 13.3 million pounds in 2006. Norwich Union was the only organisation to be fined more than one million pounds in 2007 when it was penalised 1.26 million pounds for not properly managing financial crime risks and failing to protect its customers' confidential information. The FSA stressed that fines were not the only tool in its enforcement armoury.

BAA IN FINAL BID TO AVERT AIRPORTS STRIKES

Airports operator BAA has invited unions to last-ditch talks in an effort to avoid the staff walk out planned for Monday January 7. The action is a protest over BAA owner Ferrovial's decision to close its final salary pension scheme to new members, and will result in all flights being cancelled from Heathrow, Gatwick, Stansted, Southampton, Glasgow, Edinburgh and Aberdeen airports. Union Unite said that nothing had changed since the breakdown in negotiations last week, but it remained "hopeful" that BAA had something new to say over the pension scheme.

WAITROSE IN FIRST MOVE OVERSEAS

Waitrose, part of the John Lewis Partnership, has signed a deal with Dubai-based store operator Spinneys to open more than 20 Waitrose-branded shops in the United Arab Emirates by 2010. Richard Hodgson, commercial director, said the deal began a more ambitions programme in which Britain's sixth-biggest grocer might enter several overseas markets. David Morton, who joined Waitrose four years ago and was previously an executive at Sainsbury (SBRY.L), is to become the international director in 2008.

PROBE INTO IRAQI DRUG CONTRACTS STEPPED UP

The Serious Fraud Office has ordered GlaxoSmithKline (GSK.L) and AstraZeneca (AZN.L) to hand over e-mails, faxes, contracts and invoices as part of its investigation into bribes allegedly paid to Saddam Hussein's former Iraq regime. The 1996 to 2003 oil-for-food programme was supposed to allow the Iraqi government to sell limited amounts of oil to buy foreign food and medicines. Both Glaxo and Astra, who had contracts with Iraq worth 11.9 million dollars and 2.9 million dollars respectively, deny wrongdoing.

VOTE FOR ROCK SHAREHOLDERS GAINS SUPPORT

The UK Shareholders' Association has backed the plan to give investors in Northern Rock NRK.L a vote over whether it, or some of its assets, can be sold. Private investors are estimated to account for about a fifth of Northern Rock shareholders. Last month saw the two largest shareholders in the troubled bank, SRM Global and RAB Capital, propose a series of resolutions that would require shareholder approval before the board could issue new shares, buy or sell assets or restructure subsidiaries. Northern Rock's directors believe that such proposals could restrict the board's ability to act decisively.

SHELL LOOKS TO OUTSOURCE NEARLY ALL 3,600 IT JOBS

Royal Dutch Shell(RDSa.L)RBSb.L aims to make pre-tax cost savings of about 250 million pounds a year by outsourcing the bulk of its information technology division next year. The move could affect about 3,200 jobs and Shell confirmed that "we are in the middle of commercial discussions and expect contracts to be signed in 2008." About ten percent of the jobs to be outsourced are understood to be UK based positions.