Final report recommends the digitisation of UK shareholdings through a fully intermediated system of shareholding, with an interim phase of digitised share registers.
By Mark Austin CBE, James Inness, Anna Ngo, and Johannes Poon
On 15 July 2025, the Digitisation Taskforce, chaired by Sir Douglas Flint, published its final report, marking a significant milestone in the journey towards digitising the UK shareholding framework. Its findings have been welcomed by HM Treasury on behalf of the UK
The world’s first regulated private/public crossover market is significantly redesigned as a friction-free “private up” rather than “public down” market with rethought approach to disclosure and market abuse.
By Mark Austin, Chris Horton, James Inness, Anna Ngo, Frederick Gardner, and Johannes Poon
On 14 November 2024, the UK government published its response to the March 2024 consultation on the UK’s proposed new regulated private/public crossover market, the Private Intermittent Securities and Capital Exchange System (PISCES).
UK Chancellor launches consultation on the proposed Private Intermittent Securities and Capital Exchange System (PISCES) as part of the Spring Budget.
By Mark Austin, Rob Moulton, Anna Ngo, Frederick Gardner, Charlotte Collins, and Johannes Poon
On 6 March 2024, HM Treasury published a consultation paper seeking industry feedback on the UK’s proposed new regulated crossover market, the Private Intermittent Securities and Capital Exchange System (PISCES). PISCES would allow private companies to trade their securities in
A reminder of the ongoing reforms to implement recommendations from the Lord Hill and Kalifa Reviews.
By James Inness, Anna Ngo, and Johannes Poon
The outcome of the UK Secondary Capital Raising Review, launched on 12 October 2021 to improve further capital raising processes for UK publicly traded companies, was published by HM Treasury on 19 July 2022. (For further details, please see this Latham blog post).
Below is a recap on the other key developments on reforming the UK capital markets following the Lord Hill and Kalifa Reviews.
The landmark UK Secondary Capital Raising Review Report takes a holistic approach in making bold and comprehensive recommendations to improve the UK secondary capital raising processes and ecosystem.
By James Inness, Anna Ngo, Ryan Benedict, and Johannes Poon
On 19 July 2022, HM Treasury published the UK Secondary Capital Raising Review Report (the Report) that sets out a series of recommendations to improve further capital raising processes for publicly listed companies in the UK.
The changes indicate a more dynamic and flexible UK prospectus regime with the FCA to play a central role through enhanced rule-making powers
By Chris Horton, James Inness, Anna Ngo, and Johannes Poon
On 1 March 2022, the UK government (through HM Treasury (HMT)) announced the outcome of its consultation to reform the UK prospectus regime. The consultation was published in response to recommendations from Lord Hill’s UK Listing Review to enhance the competitiveness of the UK capital markets. Broadly, the announced changes indicate a more dynamic and flexible UK prospectus regime with the FCA to play a central role through enhanced rule-making powers.
The HMT’s announcement essentially indicates a direction of travel. The impact of these changes will not be fully understood until the publication of the legislative changes and the FCA’s consultation papers. HMT states that the government will legislate to replace the existing prospectus regime when parliamentary time allows.
The UK government signals a diversion from the onshored regime towards a more flexible financial services regulatory framework.
By Rob Moulton, Anne Mainwaring, and Anna Lewis-Martinez
HM Treasury has published a consultation paper marking the start of Phase II of its financial services review, which will focus on the broader regulatory framework for financial services regulation in the UK post-Brexit.
HM Treasury acknowledges the drawbacks of the EU approach to financial services regulation. Namely, this approach has complicated the operation of the regulatory model under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (FSMA), which HM Treasury considers to be an appropriate framework for financial services regulation in the UK after the end of the transition period. HM Treasury therefore proposes an adaptation of the FSMA model as the most effective approach to the post-EU regulatory framework, acknowledging that the onshored regime of EU legislation will fail to provide an adequate long-term solution for the UK’s post-EU financial services regulatory framework.
By David Berman, Carl Fernandes Nicola Higgs, Rob Moulton and Charlotte Collins
In our January publication, we highlighted what we were seeing as the top regulatory focus areas for our clients during the year ahead, focusing on wholesale market structures and conduct risk.
In a series of 10 blog posts, we will take a closer look at the key areas highlighted, mapping developments from the first half of 2019, and looking ahead to the remainder of the year.
Call for evidence on regulatory cooperation marks the first phase of the planned review.
By Carl Fernandes, Nicola Higgs, Rob Moulton, and Charlotte Collins
The Chancellor announced in the Spring Statement that HM Treasury would undertake the Financial Services Future Regulatory Framework Review — examining the long-term effectiveness of the UK regulatory regime and considering where change might be necessary, particularly in light of Brexit.
The Review will take stock of the overall approach to regulating the UK financial services sector, including how the regulatory framework may need to adapt in the future. The Review will seek to address the following four key challenges: