On 13 July 2017, the FCA published a consultation paper (CP17/21) on its proposal to amend the listing regime to include a new fourth category of premium listing available to companies that have a sovereign controlling shareholder.
The FCA believes that this new category will facilitate greater accessibility to UK markets, whilst upholding the relevant investor protections. It would allow accessibility for those companies that cannot, or do not wish to satisfy the rules in respect of controlling shareholders and related party transactions, but that do wish to show they meet the other premium listing requirements. The category would also be accessible for companies wishing to list their interests in certificates representing securities (also known as depositary receipts), as well as equity shares.
The FCA proposes to make the following changes, amongst others:
- introduce key new definitions into the FCA Handbook, such as "sovereign controlled commercial company", and "State"; and
- introduce a new Chapter 21 of the Listing Rules, if the new premium listing category is created.
The consultation paper can be accessed in full here:
https://www.fca.org.uk/publication/consultation/cp17-21.pdf
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