Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment has he has made of the impact of allowing different voting rights for different classes of shareholder on the willingness of companies to list on the London Stock Exchange.

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is responsible for determining listing rules, including those related to voting rights attached to shares.

The FCA changed its rules to allow dual class shares structures on the ‘premium’ segment of the London Stock Exchange (LSE) in 2021. They conducted a cost and benefit analysis that can be found here: https://www.fca.org.uk/publication/consultation/cp21-21.pdf

On 3 May 2023, the FCA published a consultation proposing further reforms to dual class shares, in the context of their proposed overhaul of the LSE’s market segments. The consultation closes on 28 June and also includes an indicative cost-benefit analysis of their proposed reforms. This is available at: https://www.fca.org.uk/publication/consultation/cp23-10.pdf