On the 16th of December HM Treasury published a Summary of responses to the UK Prospectus Regime Review Consultation, which is part of the ongoing Lord Hill review. The Summary is a critical part in the concerted effort to simplify the rules and regulations around listings in the UK Market and “boost the UK as a destination for IPOs and optimise the capital raising process for large and small companies on UK market”.
Same as with other consultations in this process, ScribeStar has submitted its responses and we are very happy to report that according to the published Summary, our thinking is very much aligned with most of the market participants.
Many agree that reform in this area is much needed and could bring about tangible benefits. HM Treasury notes that the overwhelming majority of respondents support the Government’s overall approach to reforming the UK prospectus regime, and that certainly includes us.
The responses will guide Government’s further policy actions which will be set out in due course. We are very enthusiastic about what those may be, but if the responses selected by the Government are anything to go by, we should feel very positive about the future of the UK capital markets.
We are particularly proud that the Government has picked up on our suggestion that the FCA “should streamline the review and approval process, including in the light of new technological developments”. This is especially relevant considering that the majority of the respondents supported continuing the practice of the FCA reviewing and approving of prospectuses, either as a statutory requirement or on a discretionary basis.
We have pointed out in our responses to the Consultation the great success ScribeStar’s clients have in shortening the time, reducing the risk, and improving the efficiency of their listings. With its unique solutions the ScribeStar platform not only helps the company and its advisers in document production but also supports them in preparing and managing the submissions to the FCA. This functionality has the capacity to fully integrate the process of reviewing and approving prospectuses. We are working on this in other markets, and we are very much hoping to explore it with the FCA in the future.
The full paper is available here. https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/uk-prospectus-regime-a-consultation
All of the anticipated actions have a very positive effect on the capital markets development, and ensure that ScribeStar is more and more relevant as the enabler of innovative technological solutions that support this process and help market participants raise funds quicker and easier.
It is important to note that the European Commission is also currently undertaking a listing regime review with changes coming up in 2022. It will be very interesting to compare the two approaches.
We will keep you posted on both fronts as they unravel in the coming year.
ScribeStar team
