UK plans national security test for listings

The UK government is planning to toughen listing rules so that companies can be blocked on national security grounds, according to a report.

Chancellor Rishi Sunak will launch a consultation in the next two weeks to make listing rules stricter because of increased concerns about "dirty money" in British financial markets, the Financial Times reported.

The UK Listing Authority, part of the Financial Conduct Authority, decides on whether companies are eligible to list on the London Stock Exchange. Sunak wants to give ministers and officials on the National Security Council a say on companies proposing to list.

The consultation will propose the government being able to prevent a listing if it would give a foreign state access to state or commercial secrets. Companies owned by people who might wish to harm UK interests could also be blocked, the FT said.

MPs have criticised the decision to allow Oleg Deripaska, who is said to has close ties to Vladimir Putin, to list his EN+ in London in 2017. Some City bosses have said the change could be used to interfere in markets and harm the UK's attempts to present itself as open for business.

"The UK’s reputation for clean, transparent markets makes it an attractive global financial centre," the Treasury told the FT. "We are planning to bolster this by taking a targeted new power to block listings that pose a national security threat and will launch a consultation . . . in the coming months.”