UK’s FCA announces new rules for stock market listings

The new rules — which come into effect from July 29 — will ensure the U.K.’s listing system is more in line with those in other markets, and will make it simpler and more streamlined, the FCA said

The U.K.’s FCA announced Thursday new rules for the country’s stock market listings in a bid to boost growth following a slowdown in initial public offerings.

The new rules — which come into effect from July 29 — will ensure the U.K.’s listing system is more in line with those in other markets, and will make it simpler and more streamlined, the Financial Conduct Authority said in a statement.

The measures mark the biggest change to the listing regime in more than three decades, the FCA said. They aim to support a broader range of firms to issue their shares on a UK exchange, increasing opportunities for investors, it said.

One key change is the removal of the ‘premium’ and ‘standard’ listing segments. Instead there will be one overall category for equity share listings, which has been named ‘commercial companies.’

Premium listings previously had additional requirements compared to standard ones. Some of these will be carried over and now applied to all listings, while others have been scrapped.

The new rules remove the need for votes on significant or related party transactions and offer flexibility around enhanced voting rights. Shareholder approval for key events, such as reverse takeovers and decisions to take the firm’s shares off an exchange, is still required, the regulator added.

Some rules around eligibility for listings will also change, such as the removal of a requirement for firms to provide track records of their revenue.

The new rules come at a time when the European listings market, and the U.K.’s in particular, have plunged. Major tech firms have recently favoured the U.S. for their listings, including British chip designer Arm which chose to list on New York’s Nasdaq last year.