Glossary

Listing rules

The rules put in place by the UK Listing Authority which apply to companies whose shares are listed on the London Stock Exchange .

See AIM, FSA, market abuse. The Listing rules are developed and published by the UK Listing Authority, which is part of the FSA. They are to be found at http://fsahandbook.info/FSA/html/handbook/LR. They regulate the conduct of listed companies in a number of areas, for example, in the information required to launch a company on the Stock Exchange, the avoidance of abuse, adherence to the Combined Code on Corporate Governance. There is a special section for listed investment companies. There are severe penalties for breaching the Listing Rules. The rules were last updated in response to the implementation of the Market Abuse Directive, in July 2005. However, there is a continuing process of review and change, and currently there are several parts of the listing rules for which changes have been proposed.

The relevance for trustees is twofold. Firstly, the Listing Rules affect the behaviour of UK listed companies, and therefore are important in safeguarding pension funds’ interests both in the operation of the UK market and in the transparency of the companies in which they invest. Secondly, trustees may themselves be affected by the provisions on inside information and market abuse, if they are involved in the pension fund sponsored by a listed company.