Overhaul of London's stock market listing regime set to significantly boost capital raising opportunities for founder led UK tech businesses
The FCA is due to publish its response statement to CP 21/21 this month. The consultation, which is the most significant review of the UK's Capital Markets regime in at least 20 years, could be a watershed moment for UK based tech entrepreneurs.
A number of the proposals, such as changes to permit dual class share structures, a reduction in the minimum free float percentage, and a more flexible 3 year track record waiver regime, are aimed at enabling founder led businesses, particularly fast growing Technology companies, to come to the UK capital markets at an earlier stage of their development.
The proposals are ambitious, as they need to be, given that between 2015 and 2020 London accounted for only 5% of IPOs globally. If the UK wants to grow giant Tech companies like Amazon, Facebook and Netflix, it needs a rule book which will encourage them to list here, rather than overseas. Let's hope the FCA seizes the opportunity in front of them.
The rapid rise of private British companies such as Revolut, the six-year-old digital bank valued at $33bn in July, and Hopin, a two-year-old virtual events start-up that was priced at $7.8bn in August, demonstrate that valuable businesses of global scale are being built more rapidly than ever in the UK.
