Britain’s investors are preparing for the country’s listings landscape to be shifted in their favour after the City watchdog unveiled a package of reforms aimed at getting more initial public offering (IPO) information to them earlier.
The Financial Conduct Authority said new rules would come into force next July aimed at broadening access to company research, amid concerns the current process could “harm users of the IPO process, notably investors and ultimately issuers, as well as the wider economy”.
The changes are intended to get investors access to a company prospectus, the key source of information ahead of an IPO, sooner in the process – and notably before analysts at banks connected to the listing can publish their research.
“Consumer protection is weakened when prospective investors cannot obtain timely access to the information they require and place significant reliance on connected research that is potentially biased or perceived as biased,” the watchdog said.
“Market integrity is jeopardised if investors and issuers lose…