In this article, we offer an overview of the evolving landscape – covering last year's drivers for activism (from M&A, capital allocation and governance, to the changing role of ESG) as well as institutional investors. With...more
2/10/2026
/ Acquisition Agreements ,
Activist Investors ,
Board of Directors ,
Corporate Governance ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
EU ,
Institutional Investors ,
Merger Agreements ,
Shareholder Activism ,
Shareholder Proposals ,
Shareholder Rights ,
Shareholders
The Takeover Code (Code) changes in Panel consultation paper “PCP 2025/1” and response statement “RS 2025/1”: set out (in response to related amendments to the UK Listing Rules in 2024) a new framework for the application of...more
On 21 November 2025, the London Stock Exchange (LSE) released its Feedback Statement following its Discussion Paper: Shaping the Future of AIM, which invited market participants to share their perspectives on the future...more
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has published Primary Market Bulletin 58 (PMB 58), which provides key guidance in respect of the forthcoming Public Offers and Admissions to Trading Regulations (POATRs) regime taking...more
10/23/2025
/ Capital Markets ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Equity Markets ,
Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) ,
Listing Rules ,
New Guidance ,
New Regulations ,
Prospectus ,
Public Offerings ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Trading Policies ,
UK
On 15 July 2025, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) published its final rules for the new UK public offers and admissions to trading regime which will take effect on 19 January 2026, replacing the current EU-derived...more
PS35 provides further guidance on how the Panel usually applies Rule 28 (profit forecasts and quantified financial benefits statements) in practice. Rule 28 lays out relatively stringent regulatory obligations/reporting...more
PS36 provides guidance on how the Panel usually applies Takeover Code provisions relating to an unlisted share alternative to a cash offer (stub equity), emphasising that the Panel should be consulted at an early stage...more
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has released its final rules regarding the Private Intermittent Securities and Capital Exchange System (known as PISCES), the new platform designed to host intermittent secondary trading...more
On 7 April 2025, the London Stock Exchange (LSE) published a discussion paper ‘Shaping the Future of AIM’ (Discussion Paper) inviting feedback on proposals to develop the overall AIM market framework and update the AIM Rules...more
On 17 December 2024, the UK Financial Conduct Authority (the “FCA”) published its latest consultation paper on the ‘Private Intermittent Securities and Capital Exchange System’ (“PISCES”) (the “Paper”) (which is available...more
On 14 November 2024, the Chancellor delivered her inaugural Mansion House speech, announcing plans to promote UK economic growth through reforms to the financial services sector. Most pertinently for UK equity capital...more
New Listing Rules come into force on 29 July 2024, implementing long-awaited reforms to the UK’s Listing Regime. The changes, which some have billed ‘radical’, form a critical component of the Government’s wider workstream to...more
On 6 March 2024, as part of its Spring Budget measures, the Government published a consultation on its proposed new ‘Private Intermittent Securities and Capital Exchange System’ (known as PISCES). The new platform will allow...more
In our first UK Public Markets Snapshot for 2022, we cover key recent trends and points to watch out for. Headlines Don’t ignore merger arbs – they pile in quick and often need careful handling. Takeover Panel red lines –...more
The UK’s capital markets regulation is set to change over the course of the next year as the Government seeks to boost the UK’s competitiveness as an attractive listing destination for high growth companies. The FCA has...more
The Takeover Panel has just published its response statement (2020/1) making important changes to the Takeover Code regarding offer conditionality and timetable. They take effect on 5 July 2021 and will apply in relation to...more
The FCA has recently completed a review of the way in which UK issuers disclose changes to their total voting rights to the market and the resulting effect on major shareholding notifications. ...more
The Brexit transition period ended at 11:00 pm on 31 December 2020 and at the end of this transition period, the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018 converted existing EU legislation which had direct effect in the UK into UK...more
Recent changes introduced by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) -
On 21 December 2020, as we broke for Christmas, the FCA published new Listing Rule 9.8.6R(8) (LR) and guidance requiring commercial companies with a UK...more
1/8/2021
/ Annual Reports ,
Capital Markets ,
Climate Change ,
Cooperative Compliance Regime ,
Corporate Governance ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) ,
Financial Statements ,
Green Finance ,
Listing Rules ,
Policy Statement ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
UK
HM Treasury has launched a review of the UK listings regime on the basis that - The UK listing regime is “ready for review”, in particular in order to reform the regime “to attract the most innovative and successful firms and...more
Two recent Financial Conduct Authority enforcement notices focus on when and how disclosures by a listed company may be considered misleading - a basic disclosure requirement that is sometimes taken for granted.
...more
The Financial Reporting Council (FRC), the body responsible for the UK Corporate Governance Code, has published guidance on best practice for holding AGMs, taking into account the impact of this year’s COVID-19 lock-down on...more
New regulations implementing certain requirements of the Shareholders Rights Directive II in the UK will require certain publicly traded companies to provide shareholders with confirmations regarding their votes cast by poll...more
On 20 July 2020, the European Commission (Commission) adopted a capital markets recovery package as part of its overall COVID-19 recovery strategy. As part of the package, the Commission released a proposal to amend the...more
27 March 2020: The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), Financial Reporting Council (FRC), Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) and the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) have announced a series of actions to...more
6/1/2020
/ Capital Markets ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) ,
Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) ,
Financial Reporting ,
Financial Reporting Council (FRC) ,
Investment ,
Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Relief Measures ,
UK