Commentary Official listing
239.Part 6 of FSMA sets out the regime under which the “competent authority” is responsible for: (a) maintaining the official list of securities admitted to trading on a regulated market in the UK (the “Official List”); (b) regulating the admission of securities to the Official List; and (c) monitoring compliance with requirements imposed on issuers of securities (and other relevant persons) by or under the Part or by directly applicable European measures. Currently, the FSA is the “competent authority” and is known in this context as the UK Listing Authority (“UKLA”).
240.Part 6 has been substantially amended as a result of a number of developments in European law. For example, in addition to performing the functions as the competent authority for listing, the UKLA now has responsibility for making the prospectus rules (section 84) and the disclosure and transparency rules (section 89A and 96A) which are derived from Directive 2003/6/EC on insider dealing and market manipulation (market abuse) and Directive 2003/71/EC on the prospectus to be published when securities are offered to the public or admitted to trading.