The acute phase of the present financial crisis has, unsurprisingly, created challenges around the capital raising process. The degree of companies' accountability to their shareholders lies at the heart of these challenges.

At an early stage the UK Government and the Financial Services Authority established the Rights Issue Review Group to address emerging problems. In its report, issued in November 2008, the Group emphasised that pre-emption is an important part of the accountability process because it enables shareholders to exercise their governance responsibilities through the process of authorisation and dialogue.