PARIS/LONDON (Reuters) – For Henri Proglio, outspoken chief executive of French utility EDF (EDF.PA: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), a victory for Socialist Party candidate Francois Hollande in Sunday’s presidential poll could prove particularly costly.

Proglio, who earned 1.6 million euros ($2.1 million) last year, could be one of the most prominent victims of the cap on CEO pay at state-controlled companies Hollande advocates, but many more top French executives will also have a wary eye on the forthcoming vote.

LONDON, April 30 (Reuters) – Lobby group FairPensions is
calling on British savers to demand tougher action from money
managers in the fight against overpaid corporate executives, who
it says blight British industry.

Even though pension funds and individual savings account
(ISA) providers hold hefty stakes in Britain’s elite companies,
FairPensions believes the average consumer has been robbed of
influence in the campaign to curb bonuses and salaries by fund
firms who fail to reflect their clients’ views in votes on pay.

LONDON, April 25 (Reuters) – High levels of pay among senior
bankers are becoming a lightning rod for investors increasingly
dissatisfied with the paltry returns they are getting from
European banks and this is likely to stir them to revolt at
upcoming shareholders’ meetings.

The focus on disappointing dividends for investors and
generous remuneration for bankers will increase pressure on an
industry already facing criticism from the public and
politicians for its reluctance to accept its share of
responsibility for the global financial crisis.

LONDON, April 23 (Reuters) – A fund that invests in an index
of EU-regulated hedge funds is waiving its annual charge to
clients, a rare move in an industry known for high fees, in a
bid to win back hedge fund investors driven away by the
financial crisis.

The Axiom UCITS Alternative Investable Index Fund, launched
in December 2010, has dropped its 1 percent management fee and
replaced it with a 10 percent performance fee, it said on
Monday.

LONDON (Reuters) – The national financial watchdog has lost a key test of its powers to punish bankers for alleged supervision failures when a fine on a senior UBS banker was overturned by a court.

In a rare successful appeal against a fine imposed by the regulator, John Pottage was cleared of misconduct by Britain’s Upper Tribunal over compliance failings that occurred under his supervision at UBS’s British wealth management business, which he ran.

LONDON (Reuters) – Britain’s financial watchdog has lost a key test of its powers to punish bankers for alleged supervision failures when a fine on a senior UBS banker was overturned by a court.

In a rare successful appeal against a fine imposed by the regulator, John Pottage was cleared of misconduct by Britain’s Upper Tribunal over compliance failings that occurred under his supervision at UBS’s British wealth management business, which he ran.

LONDON, April 19 (Reuters) – Unhappy investors warned
British banks to brace for a sell-off in their shares unless
there is real action to stamp out excessive pay and reverse
shrinking rewards for shareholders.

After years watching boardroom bonus and salary hikes
outpace growth in their returns, investors say they are growing
tired of unanswered calls for change, with some tempted to skip
another fruitless war of words to vote with their feet instead.

LONDON (Reuters) – Germany must accept its fate as the euro’s financial backstop or quit meddling in how indebted members revive their economies, one of Spain’s leading fund firms said, in remarks likely to stoke fears of a Mediterranean backlash against austerity.

José Luis Jiménez Guajardo-Fajardo, chief executive of March Gestion de Fondos, the asset management arm of Banca March, said he sometimes felt Germany had a vested interest in an unsettled Europe and was cashing in on bailout nerves.

LONDON, April 13 (Reuters) – Scottish Widows Investment
Partnership (SWIP), the asset management unit of Lloyds Banking
Group Plc, is cutting 23 jobs in a strategy shakeup
that aims to poach clients from hedge funds and providers of
cheap index-tracking products.

The 143 billion pound ($228.1 billion) funds firm has
unveiled a new equity investment strategy to prioritise winning
business at both extremes of the market – from investors chasing
high returns using sophisticated higher-risk funds and those
seeking predictable outcomes via computer-driven trading.

LONDON (Reuters) – Spain’s banks are fast joining the ranks of the most unloved in Europe just as many need to raise capital urgently, deserted by investors who believe the country is on the brink of a recession that many lenders will not survive.

The government has ruled out more state aid for a sector that comprises a motley mix of international lenders and heavily indebted local savings banks. That leaves two options: raising private capital or turning to the EU for bailout funds.