Standard Life rejects Stonebanks' proposal

Standard Life today says it has rejected a request for a Special General Meeting to consider the issue of demutualisation on the grounds that independent legal advice has declared it invalid. The request's author, David Stonebanks, managed to collect 2,317 signatures, of which 1,420 were correctly completed by voting members - well in excess of the 1,000 minimum required, SL says. In declaring the request invalid on legal grounds, SL forces Stonebanks to try again, although the company would rather he did not. "We are naturally concerned that Stonebanks' activities are...