It is International Women's Day today (Tuesday 8 March) and the office have left me, Tracee, in charge of the daily NTI news bulletin. Looking for an angle, I was arguing with my ex, Shaft, this morning, saying that all wars are started by men and you lot should be ashamed. It turns out that over the past 500 years, queens have been more likely to wage war than male rulers; 27 per cent more likely, as it happens. Well, I think we all know who's fault that is.
So, I had to dig a little deeper. Not too much deeper, mind, as it took only a few clicks through Google to discover that, of the prison popluation in the United Kingdom, 95 per cent are men. Of those women who are incarcerated, 82 per cent were jailed for a non-violent offence in 2019, compared to just 67 per cent of men.
Moving swiftly to 'our own'; in 2018 the number of UK businesses owned by women was 17 per cent of the whole. Four years later that number is 32.37 per cent. Since the last financial collapse (men ...) self-employed women number the majority of the newly self-employed. And we are better at it; it is statistically accurate that SME companies run by women are less likely to go insolvent than companies run by men.
How statistically accurate? Get this:
The insolvency rate is 70 per cent higher in male run companies;
Eight times as many companies are run by men than women;
Only 12 out of 347 companies that went into Administrations were female run;
It was found that the insolvency rate of male-dominated businesses was 0.34 per cent and those in female-dominated businesses was 0.20 per cent.
I have discovered that the percentage of female UK fund managers has fallen over the past 20 years and sits at just 11.2 per cent, with the majority being equity managers and only a small proportion making up the fixed income market. Around 25 per cent of total senior management roles are held by women in investment banking - the lowest proportion of any sector. So, in summary; there are proportionately few women shaking sticks in banks, hedge funds and investment companies and the S&P 500 has fallen 11 per cent in 2022 while the Nasdaq has plummeted nearly 17 per cent.
I think I have made my point.
Whilst I am waving my flag (and I think I hear a key in the front door, so I have to push 'Publish' before some man does a number on my thunder) I want to share some AML advice with you, updated since we have all learned the truth about Russian men. As insolvency pros what should you now be doing?
AML should be reviewed and updated on any insolvencies which may have Russian directors, shareholders or creditors or contributories;
Check the OFSI sanctions list for any cases which involve Russian directors, shareholders, creditors or contributories;
Do not pay dividends to Russian companies or individuals - where dividends have been recently declared, report this to the OFSI
Ensure you and your staff are signed up to OFSI email notifications so you receive updates as and when the sanctions change;
Update AML checklists for new cases to include a review of any connection to Russia or Russian Nationals.
Oh, it's Richard ... he doesn't look happy. 'Publish' ...
