The ‘Jewel in the Crown’ of London’s markets, AIM has been a central feature of UK capital markets for the last 30 years providing growing companies with access to capital and liquidity. ...more
4/8/2025
/ AIM ,
Capital Markets ,
Corporate Governance ,
Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) ,
Initial Public Offering (IPO) ,
London Stock Exchange ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Securities Regulation ,
Shareholders ,
UK
The FCA has published Primary Market Bulletin (PMB) No 54 outlining its concerns around the unlawful disclosure of inside information during the course of M&A transactions....more
The Takeover Code (the “Code”) has published its response to its consultation on the application of the Code and is adopting the amendments previously proposed in PCP 2024/1 subject to some modifications. The changes will...more
The Accelerated Settlement Taskforce is currently examining a potential migration by the U.K. from a so-called T+2 to a T+1 settlement standard, i.e., reducing the time it takes for securities transactions to settle, having...more
Earlier this year, the technology working group of HM Treasury outlined the initial stages of a strategic road map for the development of a fund tokenization industry in the U.K., with a final phase to be confirmed by the end...more
For the vast majority of Israeli and Israel-related companies considering an IPO, London should continue to be the venue of choice. London has greater access to capital and liquidity than the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange and lower...more
Following on from the consultation at the end of 2023, the FCA has published its changes to the Listing Rules sourcebook, chapter 8 (sponsors), which take effect immediately. The changes focus on how a sponsor or a person...more
A new Takeover Panel consultation proposes to narrow the scope of the companies subject to the Takeover Code (the “Code”). ...more
On Feb. 22, the U.K. Law Commission launched a consultation on the Property (Digital Assets etc) Act 2024, a draft legislation that confirms the existence of a third category of personal property.
Given the current model...more
The Financial Services and Markets Act 2023 (Digital Securities Sandbox) Regulations 2023 came into force on Jan. 8, creating the U.K.'s first digital securities sandbox within which firms would be able to test new...more
2/1/2024
/ Bank of England ,
Choice-of-Law ,
Companies Act ,
Deposit Accounts ,
Depository Institutions ,
Digital Assets ,
Digital Ledger Technology ,
Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) ,
Financial Markets ,
FinTech ,
FSMA ,
HM Treasury ,
Sandbox ,
Securities ,
Securities Regulation ,
UK ,
UK Companies Acts
Following the May 2023 consultation on the UK Corporate Governance Code (“Code”), the FRC has published a revised Code. The changes focus primarily on one area - Internal Controls whilst other changes have been kept to a...more
While the British media is currently focussed on a small number of large-cap companies, formerly listed in London, choosing to move their listings to New York, there is another story which is not so well publicised.
Many...more
Following on from the consultation earlier this year, the FCA has published feedback and detailed proposals which will transform the current listing regime. The FCA is proposing to create a single listing category for UK...more
In December 2022 the FCA commented on the earlier fine imposed on Sir Christopher Gent for unlawful disclosure of inside information. Since then, the FCA has received various questions from stakeholders in the context of...more
In July, the U.K. Digitization Taskforce released an interim report containing a series of potential recommendations for the government, regulators and market participants, in order to achieve full digitization of the U.K....more
The Quoted Companies Alliance (QCA) has published a revised corporate governance code (Code). The Code is still based around 10 Principles but has been updated to keep pace with evolving investor expectations, particularly...more
Following on from its earlier consultation, the Code Committee of the Takeover Panel has published its amendments to Rule 21 of the Code which take effect on 11 December 2023 and apply to on-going transactions which straddle...more
Following a series of accounting and audit scandals in recent years and what has been described as a “crisis of trust”, the UK Government, regulatory bodies, and institutional investor groups have set out to reform the UK’s...more
10/12/2023
/ Audits ,
Board of Directors ,
Climate Change ,
Corporate Governance ,
Diversity and Inclusion Standards (D&I) ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Financial Reporting ,
Financial Reporting Council (FRC) ,
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ,
Institutional Investors ,
Proxy Advisors ,
Proxy Statements ,
Reporting Requirements ,
UK ,
UK Regulatory Reforms
The FRC has set out its expectations, in its Annual Review of Corporate Reporting, for the coming reporting season amidst the current economic background of high inflation, high interest rates and ongoing economic...more
In what will undoubtedly be seized upon by the financial press as another blow to UK equity capital markets, Arm Holdings Limited, the Cambridge-headquartered chip designer which was once courted by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak...more
The Chancellor has delivered his first Mansion House speech with a focus on bolstering the UK capital markets. The speech highlighted the:
..highly innovative step and global first of establishing a new ‘intermittent...more
The FRC has published research on the influence of proxy advisors and ESG rating agencies on the actions and reporting of FTSE 350 companies and investor voting. This makes interesting reading and highlights...more
BCLP has analysed all of the completed and ongoing public takeover transactions in the UK real estate sector since the beginning of 2019. Deal activity during that period has been consistently strong, with 15 completed...more
Following the government’s white paper on ‘Restoring trust in audit and corporate governance’, the FRC has published a consultation on the UK Corporate Governance Code (“Code”). ...more
Primary Market Bulletin No. 44 reminds issuers of the:
..use of multimedia content (including audio and video) in regulatory news announcements;
..FCA’s position on the requirement for a prospectus when shares are...more