Primary markets

UK Finance maintains a broad policy coverage across primary markets and mergers and acquisitions (M&A). We bring together ECM/DCM practitioners and legal specialists from across our membership and associate membership to discuss and address a range of public policy issues, spanning the breadth of the UK’s regulatory environment for listings, IPOs, and public capital raising. As the government has begun to consider fundamental legislative and regulatory changes to UK primary market rules, we continue to work with members in responding to strategically important initiatives such as recent reviews of the UK’s prospectus regime and secondary capital raising rules. Throughout this work, we collaborate closely with other trade associations to amplify our messaging. We maintain an extensive network of senior and working level relationships with key policy and regulatory stakeholders, including HM Treasury, the FCA, and the London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG).

Alongside this, we secretariat an active Corporate Finance Committee, which brings together senior practitioners to focus on the commercial, legal and regulatory aspects of M&A. The Corporate Finance Committee promotes the development of proportionate regulation that preserves flexibility for issuers and the efficient functioning of public capital markets. The Committee meets quarterly and has most recently discussed and provided feedback on a series proposed changes to the Takeover Code, as well as considering potential M&A impacts resulting from the recent National Security and Investment Act. The Committee engages closely with key policy and market stakeholders, such as the Takeover Panel and the FCA.