Significant Changes For Funds In Final Rules Published As Part Of UK Listing Regime Reforms

The FCA has today published final form rules in relation to its reform of the UK listing regime (see PS24/6).

For commercial companies these are broadly in the form proposed in the FCA's consultation (CP 23/31) published at the end of last year.

For closed-ended investment funds, on the other hand, following feedback there have been some significant changes to the position previously outlined in relation to transactions, with the requirement for shareholder approval generally being dropped other than in limited circumstances as outlined below.

These changes mean the transaction rules for commercial companies and funds will be more closely aligned than previously proposed– in this context it was always unclear to us why a divergence of approach between commercial companies and funds was needed.