James is an Associate at Slaughter and May and advises on a range of corporate and commercial matters. His experience includes advising FTSE 100 companies on equity capital markets matters.
STOP PRESS
Major updates to the UK prospectus framework took effect on 19 January 2026. The fresh regime for public offers of securities and for admissions to trading in the UK is primarily housed in the Public Offers and Admissions to Trading Regulations 2024, SI 2024/105 (the POATRs), together with the FCA sourcebook, The Prospectus Rules: Admission to Trading on a Regulated Market (PRM). The UK Prospectus Regulation and the FCA Prospectus Regulation Rules have been revoked in the UK. The package aims to streamline capital raising and to markedly cut the instances where an issuer must produce an FCA approved prospectus when making a further share issue. For comprehensive details of the reforms, see Practice Note: UK prospectus regime reform. Note that this Practice Note describes the prospectus regime that applied before 19 January 2026...
STOP PRESS : Significant reforms to the UK prospectus regime came into force on 19 January 2026.
Key provisions for UK public securities offerings and admissions to trading now sit mainly in the Public Offers and Admissions to Trading Regulations 2024, SI 2024/105 (the POATRs), and in the FCA sourcebook, The Prospectus Rules: Admission to Trading on a Regulated Market (PRM). The UK Prospectus Regulation and the FCA Prospectus Regulation Rules stand repealed and no longer apply. The package aims to streamline capital raising and markedly cut the instances in which a company must produce an FCA approved prospectus for a subsequent issue of shares in practice. For comprehensive details of the amendments, see Practice Note: UK prospectus regime reform. This Practice Note describes the prospectus framework as it applied before 19 January 2026...
STOP PRESS
Major changes to the UK prospectus framework took effect on 19 January 2026 throughout the United Kingdom. The latest rules for public offers of securities and for admissions to trading in the UK are chiefly contained in the Public Offers and Admissions to Trading Regulations 2024, SI 2024/105, (the POATRs) and in the FCA sourcebook titled The Prospectus Rules: Admission to Trading on a Regulated Market (PRM). The UK Prospectus Regulation and the FCA Prospectus Regulation Rules have been revoked. The reforms aim to streamline capital raising and materially cut the instances when a company must produce an FCA-approved prospectus for a subsequent share issue. For comprehensive details of the amendments, see Practice Note: UK prospectus regime reform. This Practice Note describes the prospectus regime that applied before 19 January 2026...
STOP PRESS : Significant reforms to the UK prospectus regime came into force on 19 January 2026.
The rules now governing public offers of securities and admissions to trading in the UK are set out chiefly in the Public Offers and Admissions to Trading Regulations 2024, SI 2024/105 (the POATRs) and the FCA sourcebook, The Prospectus Rules: Admission to Trading on a Regulated Market (PRM). The UK Prospectus Regulation and the FCA Prospectus Regulation Rules have been repealed. These reforms aim to streamline capital raising and materially cut the instances when a company must publish an FCA approved prospectus for a further issue of shares. For full details of the changes, see Practice Note: UK prospectus regime reform. This Practice Note reflects the prospectus regime in force before 19 January 2026. This Practice Note considers the underwriting of an offer of shares by a public limited company, including:
how an underwriting is documented,
the company's power to pay the underwriter's commission,
sub-underwriting,
and standby underwriting
...