LONDON (Reuters) – Britain’s financial watchdog proposed on Friday changing how special purpose acquisition companies or SPACs can list as the City of London seeks to bolster its global attraction after Brexit.
Following a surge of SPAC or “blank check” company listings on Wall Street and more recently in Europe, Britain is keen that London is not left behind.
The Financial Conduct Authority said it was proposing a waiver on the current rule that trading in a listed SPAC should be suspended at the point where it identifies a company to acquire.
“We are consulting on a set of clear conditions based on which we will not look to suspend the listing of a SPAC,” said Clare Cole, the FCA’s director of market oversight.
“We would expect our changes to provide a more flexible regime for larger SPACs, while still ensuring investor protections, potentially resulting in a wider range of large SPACs listed in the UK, increased choice for investors and an alternative route to public markets for private companies.”
(Reporting by Huw Jones; Editing by Dhara Ranasinghe)
