UK Financial Conduct Authority Publishes Reforms to Improve Effectiveness of Primary Markets

The U.K. Financial Conduct Authority has published two Policy Statements designed to improve effectiveness of the U.K.'s primary capital markets, and the regulatory framework governing them to ensure they continue effectively to serve issuers and investors. The FCA consulted on proposed changes between February and May 2017.

The first Policy Statement sets out enhancements to the UK Listing Regime, including a change to the FCA's approach to the suspension of listing for reverse takeovers. The enhancements to the Listing Regime update how premium listed issuers may classify transactions and will enable property companies to better take into account asset values when seeking a premium listing. These proposals received overwhelming support from market participants.

The second Policy Statement sets out rule changes to improve the range, quality and timeliness of information available to investors during the equity IPO process.

Alongside the Policy Statements, the FCA has published a Feedback Statement which outlines the feedback received to the consultations and sets out three further areas that the FCA believes merit further consideration. These are: (i) the relative positioning of standard versus premium listing; (ii) the provision of patient capital to companies that require long-term investment; and (iii) retail access to debt markets. The FCA proposes to further engage stakeholders on these three areas and to publish proposals for consultation where appropriate in due course.

View the Policy Statement on enhancements to the Listing Regime (PS 17/22).

View the Policy Statement on availability of information in the IPO process (PS 17/23).

View the Feedback Statement (FS 17/3).