Regulators have approved the biggest overhaul of rules for London-listed companies in three decades as the UK attempts to revive its capital markets, which have been pummelled by international competition and an outflow of investment.
The new listing rules will hand more power to company bosses to make decisions without shareholder votes, and give companies more flexibility to adopt dual-class share structures used by founders and venture capital firms to give themselves stronger voting rights than other investors.
The Financial Conduct Authority announced the changes on Thursday, days after the election of a Labour government, confirming a report by the Financial Times last month.