UK: Watchdog proposes IPO shake-up to level playing field

Giving investors independent research on stock flotations earlier will help keep Britain’s global financial centre competitive in the face of Brexit uncertainty, a senior UK regulator said on Wednesday.

The Financial Conduct Authority is proposing a complete “resequencing” of when investors get a prospectus and research on a company listing. Under existing rules, the prospectus, which gives in-depth information about the company that plans to list, is only made available late in the initial public offering process.

The FCA warned that some current practices involving the early dissemination of information to a select pool of analysts could potentially breach EU rules against market abuse. No enforcement action is at present being mooted but the FCA put investment banks on notice that it expects them to properly manage conflicts.

Full Content: Financial Times

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