This week in Investor Relations

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A weekly compilation of news from around the world of investor relations.

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Corporate Profits Surge
The 187 US companies that reported fourth quarter results posted an average growth in net income or profits of 45% over the last year. The 34 European companies in the study, most of them based in Continental Europe, have seen profits rise on average by 25% over the last year. Deloitte

Deal Makers Start Year With a Bang
The volume of mergers and acquisitions surged 69%, to $309.6 billion worldwide in January from a year ago. DealBook

Individual Traders Returned in Force in January
Daily trading among retail investors, including active “day traders” who drive much of the volume, jumped some 25% from December to January. Reuters

EU Trading Reform Plan Reduces Choice – Industry
A planned reform of European Union market trading rules turns the clock back on choice and competition for investors, two leading industry associations said on Wednesday. Reuters

German Watchdog Extends Short-Sale Disclosure Rule
Bafin has extended a disclosure requirement for short selling in 10 major financial stocks until March 2012. Reuters

European Analysts on Annual Reports

US House GOP targets key Dodd-Frank rules-document
Since being swept into power in the House by voters in November, Republicans have vowed to use their new-found control of oversight committees to try to soften and delay the implementation of parts of Dodd-Frank by regulators. Reuters

Say-on-Pay: A Failed Vote in the First Week of Annual Meetings!
It’s not a good sign that so early in the season – out of only a handful of companies having meetings – Monsanto’s say-on-pay vote only received 65% “for” and another company’s vote did not pass. Although it’s still early, this could be a harbinger that SOP results will defy the predictions of those that felt that most say-on-pay votes would easily pass. TheCorporateCounsel.net

Say-on-Pay Results Through February 1
The arithmetic average of no votes on say-on-pay for issuers with a market cap in excess of $1 billion (regardless of frequency), with ten issuers reporting, is approximately 16%.  Dodd-Frank.com

Investors Call for Annual Votes on Executive Compensation
A coalition of 39 institutional investors responds to SEC rules governing shareowner votes on executive compensation by urging companies to support annual rather than triennial votes. SocialFunds.com

In Asia, Hello to Faster Trades and Goodbye to Lunch Hour
As they move to gain share, local exchanges are upgrading their infrastructure, expanding their operations and even throwing out longstanding traditions like lengthy lunch breaks. DealBook

Canada Poised for IPO Surge
The Canadian IPO market is poised for a strong year, with a handful of deals topping the C$1 billion mark, and in sectors that haven’t shown strength for years, according to the deputy head of investment banking at Bank of Nova Scotia. Reuters

Canada’s OSC Seeks Comments on Shareholder Democracy
The widening acceptance of common approaches on issues such as majority voting and say-on-pay warrant consideration by Canadian issuers. Westlaw

TD Bank Wins Big At IR Magazine Canada Awards
TD Bank triumphed at the IR Magazine Canada Awards 2011 last night, claiming five awards including the grand prix for best overall investor relations by a large-cap company. Business Insider

CFOs See Selves as Drivers, Guardians
Given four choices for characterizing their dominant style, half of CFOs consider themselves predominantly “drivers,” with “guardians” second-most prevalent at 30%, and the remaining 20% evenly split between “pioneers” and “integrators.” MarketingCharts.com

Tweeting Your Trademark, Saving its Face on Facebook
While social networking offers tremendous upside, it has faults, particularly regarding intellectual property protection. Trademarks may be used by a variety of people not associated with the trademark owner, and some of them may abuse the mark. Abuse runs the gamut from use of a mark as a personal identifier within a profile to posting content misleadingly attributed to the manufacturer to online identity usurpation. Law Technology News

Commonwealth Bank of Australia Slammed Over Draconian Social Media Policy
Commonwealth Bank of Australia is in hot water with labor unions over the imposition of a draconian new social media policy that severely curtails the freedom of expression of employees and their network of friends when corresponding over social sites. Finextra

News Corp Bets on iPad for Future of News
Rupert Murdoch, among the most ardent defenders of the traditional press, has staked his reputation on a risky bet that for just 14 cents a day he can save the news business with tablet devices like Apple’s iPad. Reuters

Murdoch’s Daily: Post-Web Innovation or CD-ROM Flashback?
Most of the apparatus of two-way communication that every serious digital publishing venture of the past 15 years has taken as a given is missing from the Daily. Wordyard

Apple’s iPad boosts FT online subscriptions
Financial Times Chief Executive John Ridding said that Apple Inc’s iPad and other mobile devices are driving 20 percent of the newspaper’s new online subscriptions. Reuters

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Pam Agnew

Pam Agnew, ABC is a director of IR Web Reporting International Inc. and an award-winning communicator. She has more than 20 years of corporate and agency experience in investor, crisis, corporate, media, stakeholder and sustainability communications on four continents for leading global companies as well as stock exchanges, securities regulators and large institutional investors.