Such a view is not surprising, given her background: she has worked since 1986 with Bob Monks, one of America's best-known champions of better corporate governance, setting up Institutional Shareholder Services, which advises big institutions on casting proxy votes.

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Moxy Vote was a noble attempt to coalesce the small investor which was thwarted by the very institutions who are often the custodians of their shares and hence all proxy materials.

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There has been a vast amount of talk - for as long as I can remember - about creating a financial instrument (so-called mutual paper) that would serve as a proxy for equity capital for building societies and that could be sold to investment institutions or even retail investors.

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