Financial Columnist Quits Over Nondisclosure of Stock Ownership

Image via Wikipedia
Thomson Reuters' Breakingviews financial columnist Neil Collins has resigned for failing to disclose that dating back to March 2009, he wrote articles commenting on 15 companies in which he held ownership shares, according to an article in The Guardian.


Thomson Reuters has refiled 53 online columns, mostly by Collins, as well as by Breakingviews reporters Margaret Doyle and Neil Unmack, to which disclaimers were added that noted the writer's personal investment in the company being profiled, according to The Guardian.  Among the entities that Collins wrote about, but failed to mention his stockholdings in were BP, Yell, Marks & Spencer and Diageo.


Collins resignation was accepted for violating Thomson Reuter's code of conduct, though Collins was not accused of exploiting his columnist position for personal gain.  Collins was city editor of the Daily Telegraph for 19 years and also worked for the London Evening Standard and the Sunday Times.