Clare Cole, Director of Market Oversight at the FCA, has delivered a speech on the FCA’s proposals for a new listing regime. Highlights include:
- the UK Listing Review, chaired by Lord Hill, achieved unprecedented support across all parts of industry for the need to reform of the listing regime. The FCA is committed to seizing this opportunity to make the listing regime more agile and more flexible;
- the FCA wants to ensure the listing regime is suitable for the types of companies that are coming to market in today’s economy, so institutional and retail investors are able to share in the growth of these new and innovative companies;
- the FCA’s consultation on the Primary Markets Effectiveness Review covers some specific reforms to the regime that it would like to bring about quickly, including:
- a targeted approach to allowing dual class share structures in the premium segment;
- a reduction in the level of free float to 10%; and
- measures to improve investor trust and confidence in the types of companies on different markets, by raising the minimum market capitalisation required for listing on the main market to £50 million.
- this is only the beginning of the process of reform. The FCA will be engaging with stakeholders across industry, to work together to redraw the picture of public markets in the UK, as efficiently and collaboratively as possible.