Top Investment Insights for UK Enterprises

As a result of the intro of the UKLR sourcebook in July 2024, both the London Stock Market (LSE) and FTSE Russell made consequential modifications to their guidelines. In July 2024, the LSE validated amendments to its Admission and Disclosure Standards to show the collapse of the previous premium and standard listing sections into the brand-new business company classification.

It then released a summary and FAQs confirming its view when the final UKLR sourcebook was released in July 2024. One of the procedures proposed as part of the Edinburgh Reforms in December 2022 was the facility of the Accelerated Settlement Taskforce, chaired by Charlie Geffen. The objective of the taskforce was to think about the prospective advantages of the UK relocating to a T +1 securities settlement cycle and detail how this change could be implemented.

, chaired by Sir Douglas Flint.

Scaling Digital Systems for British Success

In July 2023, the taskforce released an Interim Report (read our summary here) that made a number of suggestions, including: legislation ought to be brought forward, and company posts of association changed, as soon as practicable to stop the issuance of new paper share certificates; the government should bring forward legislation to require dematerialisation of all share certificates at a future date; the government needs to consult with issuer and investor agents on the preferred personality of "residual" paper share interests and whether a time frame must be enforced for the identification of untraced Ultimate Beneficial Owners (UBOs); andintermediaries need to have an obligation, as a condition of involvement in the cleaning and settlement system, to put in place typical technology that enables them to react to UBO demands from companies within an extremely short time frame.

ANSR July UK PRs

Digitisation would target listed companies with a view to minimizing expenses and waste, and enhancing investor interaction. The report proposes extra steps to ensure that UBOs within the intermediated securities chain would be able to work out investor rights that are currently just guaranteed for registered shareholders, along with steps to boost communication between business and UBOs.