A better approach would not be the relaxation of the listing rules to set the bar even lower, but to raise the bar by having more quality controls on these IPOs. Many of the projections and statements within IPO’s over the last few years have been, at best, economical with the truth. In addition, the Government should give extra tax incentives for personal and institutional investors when investing in London listed shares, which would increase demand to existing and new listings. At present, pension funds have less than 10% of their assets invested in UK equities, compared to more than 50% in 1990. In fact, the pension fund that invests on behalf of Britain’s MPs and ministers, has just 1.7 per cent invested in UK-listed companies.
