Standard

The chairman of Standard Life has said that pay across the UK’s financial services industry is too high, as more than a fifth of the insurer’s shareholders voted against its boardroom pay deals. The Edinburgh-based company, which held its annual meeting in London for the first time, said 22.3% of shareholders voted against the remuneration report for 2015. The protest vote would have been bigger had it not been for Standard Life’s announcement last week that its new chief executive, Keith Skeoch, would reduce his potential £3.5m long-term bonus by £700,000. The group’s chairman, Sir Gerry Grimstone, said the vote “does [send a message]. A number of companies have been sent a message this year.” Meanwhile, nearly 26% of investors opposed the annual remuneration report of office provider Regus on Tuesday, and 17% voted against its forward-looking pay policy. Several major companies have suffered far bigger protest votes over executive pay in … [Read more...] about Standard Life chairman says boardroom pay is too high

Vietcombank is one of the first two banks to meet the requirements of Circular 41/2016/TT-NHNN issued by the State Bank of Vietnam (Photo: VNA) Hanoi (VNA) – Some experts have said when a bank is unable to have a minimum capital adequacy ratio (CAR) of 8 percent for a long time, it could be put under special control by the central bank. In recent times, the country’s banking sector has made efforts to control inflation and other issues, but an array of loopholes still exist, with scandals at the Asia Commercial Joint Stock Bank (ACB), OceanBank and the Vietnam Construction Bank, among others. To improve the sector’s health and safety, the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) has issued Circular 41/2016/TT-NHNN, which stipulates the CAR at banks and branches of foreign banks in Vietnam. Although this circular is the first step to implement Basel II standards, it is important for banks to enhance risk governance. Experts said most banks are still applying Basel I standards, … [Read more...] about Banks grapple with capital hike to meet Basel II standards

New York Times, companies are looking to turn away from the traditional 12-volt systems to provide the juice for these cars of the future, and looking to a 48-volt standard instead. For the last seven decades or so, 12-volt batteries have been the standard. But now that vehicles have an increasing number of electrical components and are relying on hybrid drive systems, it would appear that carmakers are turning away from this norm. Previously, efforts to increase the voltage in cars has generally died due to cost concerns, but as the Times notes, “recent regulatory developments and the hardware that will one day make autonomous cars feasible” have also opened the doors to more powerful batteries. Plus, they’re cheaper today than they were before, too. As Jürgen Wiesenberger, director of the hybrid electrical vehicles unit at Continental North America told the Times, “The market was not ready for [these batteries] in the past because of cost, but the … [Read more...] about 48-volt systems could be the new standard in the future’s vehicles

A minimum academic standard has been prescribed for athletes in Excel College, Ejigbo, Lagos, to guide the students against losing concentration in their studies. The Co-Director of the school, Dr. Bamidele Oke, who was speaking at the end of the school’s Inter House Sports competition recently, said the management was very impressed with the quality of athletes in the institution and has initiated a development programme to encourage the talents. He however, said that a minimum 60 percent academic performance must be achieved by any student athlete to be in the list of beneficiaries of the sports project. According to him, “this is to ensure that the students’ academics pursuit was not lost on the field of sports.” “We discovered many talents during the Inter-House meet. And they have already started receiving grooming through a special programme in partnership with some sports development experts. “We are also mindful of the need to balance … [Read more...] about Excel College sets minimum academic standard for athletes

The Obama administration has finalized new rules to cut greenhouse gas emissions and increase fuel efficiency in heavy-duty trucks and other large vehicles. The Department of Transportation and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on Tuesday released the new rules, which they said will slash greenhouse gas emissions from the American transportation sector.  The new standards for combination tractors, the largest contributor of greenhouse gases in the heavy-duty transportation sector, built through model year 2027 will produce 25 percent less carbon dioxide and use 25 percent less fuel than those produced under current standards.ADVERTISEMENTThe rules expand on the greenhouse gas and fuel efficiency standards unveiled in 2012 and are designed to cut 1.1 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions, reducing greenhouse gas emissions and fuel consumption by an additional 10 percent over the first phase.New regulations were also released for trailers, vocational … [Read more...] about Obama administration strengthens efficiency standards for large trucks