Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they intend to undertake a review of the management of conflicts of interest arising when, in a contested takeover situation, institutional investors hold shares for clients, or under their own account, in both the bidder and target companies.

It is not uncommon for some investors to hold shares in both the bidder and target companies and rules mandated by the Financial Conduct Authority provide transparency to the market about share ownership. Takeover decisions are ultimately a matter for shareholders and the UK’s takeover rules require bidders to secure the approval of a majority of shareholders in the target company.