The paper seeks views on how the Listing Regime can best support the competitiveness of UK Capital Markets, while protecting investors.
It discusses ways to re-label the Primary and Secondary listing segments to help participants in the markets understand better the obligations on issuers of the various types of listed securities.
Sally Dewar, FSA managing director of wholesale and institutional markets, said the regulator welcomed an open debate on the issue.
The Listing Regime has been cited as a key element in the success of the UK market. London has increased its share of the global initial public offering (IPO) market in recent years and the UK continues to attract considerable numbers of overseas issuers, which the FSA welcomes.
"In an increasingly competitive global environment, we are committed to ensuring the Listing Regime makes a full contribution to the continued international success of UK capital markets while keeping pace with changes in global markets," added Dewar.
The paper proposes re-labelling Primary Listing 'Tier One Listing' and Secondary Listing and GDRs 'Tier Two Listing'. Alternatively, it suggests reclassifying Secondary Listing and GDRs.
The securities would continue to be admitted to trading and subject to appropriate EU directive based obligations, but they would not be 'Officially Listed' by the FSA.
UK companies are only eligible for a 'super-equivalent' Primary Listing and not Secondary Listing. This treats UK companies differently, as overseas issuers can choose between which of the two regulatory regimes they list under. The paper explores proposals to relax these restrictions and create a level playing field for both overseas and UK issuers.
The paper also asks whether there would be greater clarity if Primary Listed companies were all subject to the same corporate governance requirements, be they UK or overseas issuers.
The FSA has asked for comments by 14 April 2008, with the next step to be publishing a feedback statement around Q3 2008 and a consultation paper with detailed rules will follow subsequently.
