The vitality of the UK’s equity markets has waned in recent years. Long-term trends, including the country’s shrinking role in the global economy, coupled with the more immediate fallout from Brexit, have robbed London of its status as Europe’s leading share-trading hub, a position now held by Amsterdam.

UK listings, meanwhile, have collapsed by 40% since 2008, according to the recently published Listing Review.But the country’s financial regulators, law-makers and officials are alert to these problems.
Speaking in May 2023, Sarah Pritchard, the Financial Conduct Authority’s (FCA’s) executive director for markets, noted: “Many of the rules that underpin the UK capital markets are historic, formed in the 1980s, and we cannot afford to stand still. […] we must continue to evolve – and in some areas – evolve rapidly.”