|
|
Plans by the UK’s financial regulator to encourage more companies to list their shares in London have triggered a hostile reception from British pension schemes, which warned on Wednesday that the proposals would damage the City’s attractiveness as a global business centre.
In an open letter to the Financial Conduct Authority, 10 of the largest pension schemes warned the watchdog that its proposed reforms to the UK’s listings regime would damage “fundamental investor protections”. The signatories, which include Railpen, Nest and the Universities Superannuation Scheme, argued the planned overhaul would have the opposite effect to that envisaged by the watchdog.
The FCA is looking to encourage more companies to come to London, where the number of listings have fallen by 40 per cent since 2008 in the face of growing competition from exchanges in the US, continental Europe and Asia. The letter highlighted the threat posed to the right of shareholders to vote on significant transactions, such as the takeover of a UK-listed company by a related party.
The 10 pension schemes, which oversee a combined £300bn of retirement savings, argued the proposed dilution of shareholder rights would make it more difficult for institutional investors to act as effective stewards of their assets. The FCA’s proposals would remove the need for companies to have three years of audited accounts and merge London’s standard and premium markets into a single category, making it more attractive for early-stage companies to list. The changes would also give company founders greater voting rights over ordinary shareholders through the use of dual class share structures...
more at FT