On 11 July 2024, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) published the new UK Listing Rules which come into effect on 29 July 2024. This significant reform represents the most consequential overhaul of the UK listing regime in over a decade, since the introduction of the two-tier premium and standard listing categories in 2010. The changes seek to remove barriers to listing on the UK public markets and are generally welcomed by market participants, with some disquiet from institutional investors at the removal of protections.
The UK Listing Rules will abolish the existing two-tier structure of the Official List, comprising the premium and standard listing categories, establishing a single listing category. This new unified category will be named the Equity Shares (Commercial Companies) (ESCC) category. Separate categories for closed-ended investment funds and open-ended investment companies will remain, and three new listing categories will also be created, namely for shell companies,
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