UK PMs Push Back As Regulators “Bend The Rules” To Accommodate Saudi Aramco IPO

All IPO’d up and no place to go? UK portfolio managers with $6.9 trillion resist rule bending by regulator to achieve Aramco London listing

Another potential problem for the world’s biggest ever (potential) IPO…
A lobby group representing UK portfolio managers with $6.9 trillion AUM has warned the UK financial regulator that bending the rules to accommodate Aramco’s IPO will damage London’s status as a global financial centre.
In a letter to the head of the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), the embattled Andrew Bailey, the Investment Association (IA) argued that it threatened the ‘high standards’ of London’s listing regime.
In ‘Funds fire broadside over Saudi oil float’, the Sunday Times noted that ‘Britain’s largest investors have turned up the heat on the City watchdog over its controversial plans to allow Saudi Arabia’s oil giant to float in London.’
Besides the tricky issue of its oil and gas reserves (especially the Ghawar field), the IA argued in the letter that ‘For the premium segment of the UK main market, investors must have confidence that a company is run for all shareholders, not just the major or controlling shareholder.’

This post was published at Zero Hedge on Oct 17, 2017.