Railpen, one of the UK’s largest pension managers, has joined forces with nine other UK pension schemes in calling for a comprehensive and evidence-based policy discussion in response to the Financial Conduct Authority’s (FCA) consultation on listing reforms. The group, which oversees approximately £300 billion (US$381.2 billion) AuM, says it wants to preserve the UK’s high corporate governance standards and robust investor protections for the sake of fostering healthy capital markets. The pension schemes said current proposals could weaken investor protections and exacerbate existing issues. They specifically highlighted the potential rollback of fundamental investor safeguards, such as the right to a shareholder vote on significant and related party transactions, as well as equal voting rights that underpin a fair and democratic capitalist system. According to the group, such dilution of investor protections would hamper their ability to effectively steward the assets of pension scheme members and ultimately tarnish the UK’s reputation as a leading market with high corporate governance standards. A letter to the FCA was co-signed by Railpen, Brightwell, Brunel Pensions Partnership, The Church of England Pensions Board, HSBC Bank (UK) Pension Scheme, Merseyside Pension Fund, NEST, People’s Partnership, TPT Retirement Solutions, and Universities Superannuation Scheme (USS). The International Corporate Governance Network also responded to the FCA’s consultation, raising concerns that the proposed changed could affect the UK’s reputation for high quality listing and governance standards.
