Plans for City’s future delayed until next year as investors warn of ‘report fatigue’
A major report looking to draw up a “new market model” for the City has been delayed until next year as fears grow of “report fatigue” setting in across London, City PM can reveal.
The Capital Markets Industry Taskforce (CMIT), headed by London Stock Exchange chief Julia Hoggett, called in L&G boss Sir Nigel Wilson to conduct a “Capital Markets of Tomorrow” deepdive in May that sought to carve out a new vision for London’s markets.
At the launch of the report, CMIT bosses pledged the group would lay out their findings in the autumn. However, City A.M. has learned the publication of the report has now been kicked back until January after a flurry of feedback from the industry.
A source close to the group told City A.M. that progress had been “good” but there were “lots of views to distil” into the plans.
Delays to the latest report may fuel concerns about the pace of reform in the capital, however, and heighten fears of so-called “report fatigue” following a deluge of deepdives over the past three years.
The Capital Markets of Tomorrow report had looked to tie-up a number of government-commissioned reviews of the capital markets ecosystem in a more “cohesive” plan for the City.
Since 2020, the Treasury has commissioned the Kalifa review of fintech, Hill review of the listings regime, Austin review of the secondary markets, Flint review of digitising the shareholder system and Kent review of the research investment landscape.
Private sector industry groups have also commissioned their own analyses and weighed in with recommendations to tackle the challenges facing UK capital markets.
Regulators and ministers have pressed ahead with many recommendations but fears have begun to spread in the City of an overkill of capital markets reports.
“It’s a fine balance. We’ve had over three years of policy work exploring the rule recalibrations needed to boost listings in London, to simplify capital raising, and to unlock the UK’s £1tn pool of retail capital,” Mike Coombes, head of corporate affairs at retail investment firm Primarybid, told City PM
“But looking at the IPO market opening internationally, and the passage of the EU’s own Listing Act, what is paramount now is for reforms to be enacted swiftly, giving issuers the certainty they need. On many technical issues we’ve had consensus since 2020.”
Charles Hall, head of research at investment bank Peel Hunt added that the industry was now “keen to see a faster pace of change” to regulation to solve the malaise facing London.
“Regulators need to be clear that regulating a declining market is in no-one’s interest, including their own,” he added.
London Stock Exchange Chief Julia Hoggett has pressed ahead with efforts to overhaul the City since taking over the bourse in 2021.
She told City A.M. earlier this month she was prepared to “fight” for every listing and reform of the market was pressing ahead at pace.