Sir: Although I would prefer that 'Britain's corporate scene' does
not become dominat- ed by lawyers, I cannot agree with the rosy picture of the Takeover Panel which Caro- line O'Driscoll paints in her article.
During my recent dealings with the Panel concerning a takeover bid for a company in which I have an interest, I had to draw the Panel's attention to the fact that the bid, which they had previously approved, failed to comply with the general principles laid down by themselves within the City code! Subsequently, the offer document was with- drawn, but only following my intervention as a small shareholder. Thus a small share- holder had to tell the regulator to enforce its principles to bring a bid into line, which is a remarkable contrast to the tale of G.K. Chesterton, Parliament, and the EC.
The quote from Alistair Defriez, the Panel's director-general, 'The directive is a masterpiece of the art of compromise on the lowest common denominator', brings to mind the phrase, 'People in glasshouses shouldn't throw stones.'
The Panel has never recovered from the drubbing it received at the hands of Jim Raper in the 1970s, and it appears to me that little has improved since then. If only the Panel could demonstrate that it is worth protecting to the thousands of small investors like myself, lobbying of EU mem- bers would be unnecessary, as we would be pleased to fight 'tooth and nail' for its survival!
Mark Jackson
36 Newstead Street, Hull
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