The FCA has published rules for a simplified listings regime in its biggest shake-up in over three decades to support a wider range of financial services firms to issue their shares on a UK exchange.

The new rules will apply from 29 July.

The new listings regime has a single category and streamlined eligibility for those companies seeking to list their shares in the UK.

The FCA said its overhaul of the rules will bring the UK regime into line with international market standards.

It added that the rules will ensure investors will have the information they need to make decisions about their money, while maintaining appropriate investor protections to hold the management of the companies they co-own to account. 

The new rules remove the need for votes on significant or related party transactions and offer flexibility on enhanced voting rights.

Shareholder approval for key events, such as reverse takeovers and decisions to take the company’s shares off an exchange, is still required. 

Sarah Pritchard, executive director, markets and international, at the FCA, said: “A thriving capital market is vital in delivering investment to growing companies plus returns and choice to investors. That’s why we are acting to make it more straightforward for those seeking to list in the UK, while retaining vital protections so investors can help steer the businesses they co-own.”

The FCA said that while the new rules involve allowing greater risk, the changes will "better reflect the risk appetite the economy needs to achieve growth."

According to the UK Listing Review, the number of listed companies in the UK has fallen by about 40% from a peak in 2008. Between 2015 and 2020, the UK accounted for only 5% of Initial Public Offerings globally.

New Chancellor Rachel Reeves said the new rules “represent a significant first step towards reinvigorating our capital markets” and that the financial services sector ws “central to the UK economy, and at the heart of this government’s growth mission.”

The full rules are set out within PS24/6 on the FCA website.