Listing categories

Listing Regime Review

In September 2009, the Financial Services Authority (FSA) announced it will implement the following changes to the Listing Regime in the UK:

• From 6 October 2009 an EU Directive minimum listing will be available to UK companies. 
• The current terms ‘Primary Listing’ and ‘Secondary Listing’ will be replaced with ‘Premium Listing’ and ‘Standard Listing’ throughout the FSA Handbook. 

For full details please refer to the FSA's webiste.

Listing categories
When listing equity securities on the Main Market, companies have the choice of two types of listing – a Premium (currently Primary) Listing and a Standard (currently Secondary) Listing.

Premium Listing
A Premium Listing is only available to equity securities issued by trading companies and closed and open-ended investment entities. Issuers with a Premium Listing are required to meet the UK’s super-equivalent rules which are higher than the EU minimum requirements.  A Premium Listing means the company is expected to meet the UK’s highest standards of regulation and corporate governance – and as a consequence may enjoy a lower cost of capital through greater transparency and through building investor confidence.

Standard Listing
Standard Listings cover issuance of equities (excluding issues by investment entities), Global Depositary Receipts (GDRs), debt and securitised derivatives that are required to comply with EU minimum requirements. A Standard Listing allows issuers to access the Main Market by meeting EU harmonised standards only rather than the UK ‘super-equivalent’ requirements.

Listing categories

All issuers with securities admitted to the Official List are assigned to a segment - Premium or Standard. Please visit our statistics section to access a list of securities with details of the relevant listing category or click here to access the FSA's Official List.

FTSE UK Index Series

Premium Listed companies are potentially eligible for the FTSE UK Index Series, including the FTSE 100 Index - one of the most widely recognised indices around the world.

Inclusion in the FTSE UK Index Series is determined by FTSE according to published ground rules. The FTSE UK Index Series is open to eligible Premium Listed Main Market companies. Companies with a Standard Listing are not eligible for inclusion in the FTSE UK Index Series.

For further information on the FTSE UK Index Series and the associated ground rules, please visit www.ftse.com