20 November 2024

Last week, Partner Mairi Maclennan attended City & Financial Global’s summit on The Future of UK Capital Markets Regulation in central London. Here she gives us her four big takeaways:

1. Private markets are not going anywhere: PISCES marks a positive first step in enhancing connectivity between public and private markets. However, more effort is required to address key challenges, including valuation discrepancies, share transfer mechanisms, and cultural differences. All eyes will be on the Bank of England’s SWES later this month, the first comprehensive regulatory assessment of the NBFI sector.

2. Support UK start-ups from the get go: Strategic decisions on listings are influenced from the outset of a company’s development. The US has established a successful track record of supporting start-ups from early stages with a natural bias towards eventual US listings. UK pension funds should leverage their position to foster the growth of UK start-ups, encouraging more companies to list in the UK.

3. Focus on fundamentals, not mandation: A clear, well-articulated industrial strategy will be more effective in attracting investment and enhancing the UK’s international competitiveness than mandation. Any push towards mandation raises significant concerns regarding firms’ fiduciary duties and could be counterproductive to long-term growth.

4. Tell Sid 2.0: The UK continues to lag behind in retail investment. Labour’s pre-election Financing Growth report promised an updated “Tell Sid” campaign to drive retail investment in UK assets. However, detailed plans have yet to emerge. Successfully delivering this could be crucial in strengthening voter engagement with the Government’s Growth Mission and demonstrating its tangible benefits to the public.

To find out more, get in touch with our team: ukpublicaffairs@h-advisors.global

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