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To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the number of businesses that delisted from the London Stock Exchange in each of the last three years.

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the number of businesses that delisted from the London Stock Exchange in each of the last three years.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 1 July to Question 13470, what guidance she has given the Listings Taskforce on (a) an outcome of their deliberations and (b) reporting their findings.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 1 July to Question 13470, what guidance she has given the Listings Taskforce on (a) an outcome of their deliberations and (b) reporting their findings.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Pursuant to WPQ 10566, whether she expects to receive a report from the Listings Taskforce.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Pursuant to WPQ 10566, whether she expects to receive a report from the Listings Taskforce.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if she will hold discussions with the London Stock Exchange on the Companies intending to launch an initial public offering on the New York Exchange rather than London.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if she will hold discussions with the London Stock Exchange on the Companies intending to launch an initial public offering on the New York Exchange rather than London.

To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to support and retain high-growth UK technology firms seeking to list on the London stock exchange.

To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to support and retain high-growth UK technology firms seeking to list on the London stock exchange.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if she will make an assessment of the impact of her Budget in 2024 on the performance of AIM shares.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if she will make an assessment of the impact of her Budget in 2024 on the performance of AIM shares.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether she has considered the potential merits of mandating the Listings Taskforce to consider sector-specific listing challenges for those priority areas identified in the Industrial Strategy.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether she has considered the potential merits of mandating the Listings Taskforce to consider sector-specific listing challenges for those priority areas identified in the Industrial Strategy.

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the financial benefits of fintech companies to the London Stock Exchange, and what steps they are taking to encourage fintech companies to be based in London.

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the financial benefits of fintech companies to the London Stock Exchange, and what steps they are taking to encourage fintech companies to be based in London.

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the number of (1) companies leaving the London Stock Exchange, and (2) new companies listed on the stock market; and whether they intend to implement further incentives to encourage companies to be listed on the London Stock Exchange.

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the number of (1) companies leaving the London Stock Exchange, and (2) new companies listed on the stock market; and whether they intend to implement further incentives to encourage companies to be listed on the London Stock Exchange.

To ask His Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the implications of the decision by a number of companies, such as Wise, to shift primary stock exchange listings from London to New York.

To ask His Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the implications of the decision by a number of companies, such as Wise, to shift primary stock exchange listings from London to New York.

My Lords, the Government want to see high-growth companies start, scale, list and stay in the UK. Current market sentiment is challenging, but the UK remains the top destination for equity capital raising in Europe. The Government are focused on further boosting the competitiveness of UK capital markets. In her Mansion House speech, the Chancellor will set out a 10-year vision for financial services.

My Lords, the Government want to see high-growth companies start, scale, list and stay in the UK. Current market sentiment is challenging, but the UK remains the top destination for equity capital raising in Europe. The Government are focused on further boosting the competitiveness of UK capital markets. In her Mansion House speech, the Chancellor will set out a 10-year vision for financial services.

Since tabling this Question, AstraZeneca, the biggest company on the London Stock Exchange, has discussed shifting its stock market listing to the US. This would be a real blow to our stock market of £160 billion. It is also increasingly feared that AstraZeneca could be redomiciled to the US, risking losses for London as a hub, hundreds of jobs and tax losses for the Chancellor. What changes will the Minister make to the UK’s investment environment to stop the troubling and damaging exodus of high-value firms from our market? We would love some detail.

Since tabling this Question, AstraZeneca, the biggest company on the London Stock Exchange, has discussed shifting its stock market listing to the US. This would be a real blow to our stock market of £160 billion. It is also increasingly feared that AstraZeneca could be redomiciled to the US, risking losses for London as a hub, hundreds of jobs and tax losses for the Chancellor. What changes will the Minister make to the UK’s investment environment to stop the troubling and damaging exodus of high-value firms from our market? We would love some detail.

I am grateful to the noble Baroness for her question. The Government recognise, as she did, that the UK’s equity markets have faced challenges in recent years, but that is not a new phenomenon; there has been a net decline in investment in UK funds for nine consecutive years. That is a

matter for concern, of course, though it reflects global trends and the outflow in 2024 was £2.3 billion less than in 2023.

Firms may choose to list in other countries for a variety of reasons. The noble Baroness mentioned some specific companies. It would not be appropriate for me to comment on individual companies or on speculation, but, of course, the Government should do everything that they can, as she said, to improve the competitiveness of our market and the attractiveness of the UK as a place to list. We are taking forward reforms to boost competitiveness, including overhauling the prospectus regime and legislating for PISCES. This will complement the FCA’s rewrite of the UK’s listing rules, providing more flexibility to raise capital on UK markets. As I have said, next week at Mansion House, the Chancellor will publish our 10-year strategy for financial services, which will include capital markets.

I am grateful to the noble Baroness for her question. The Government recognise, as she did, that the UK’s equity markets have faced challenges in recent years, but that is not a new phenomenon; there has been a net decline in investment in UK funds for nine consecutive years. That is a

matter for concern, of course, though it reflects global trends and the outflow in 2024 was £2.3 billion less than in 2023.

Firms may choose to list in other countries for a variety of reasons. The noble Baroness mentioned some specific companies. It would not be appropriate for me to comment on individual companies or on speculation, but, of course, the Government should do everything that they can, as she said, to improve the competitiveness of our market and the attractiveness of the UK as a place to list. We are taking forward reforms to boost competitiveness, including overhauling the prospectus regime and legislating for PISCES. This will complement the FCA’s rewrite of the UK’s listing rules, providing more flexibility to raise capital on UK markets. As I have said, next week at Mansion House, the Chancellor will publish our 10-year strategy for financial services, which will include capital markets.

My noble friend raises an important issue, and I am grateful for his reply. The noble Baroness raised the large companies, but surely the real problem is the rebalancing over several years of the London Stock Exchange away from the funding of small start-ups which are proving their worth and need to be able to scale up. Might it not be time to have an investigation into the direction, strategy and governance of the LSE?

My noble friend raises an important issue, and I am grateful for his reply. The noble Baroness raised the large companies, but surely the real problem is the rebalancing over several years of the London Stock Exchange away from the funding of small start-ups which are proving their worth and need to be able to scale up. Might it not be time to have an investigation into the direction, strategy and governance of the LSE?

My noble friend is absolutely right on the importance of capital for start-ups and how we can enable them to scale up. It is why in the industrial strategy and the spending review we significantly increased the funding available to the British Business Bank to help innovative small companies to do exactly that. They now have record amounts of capital. We have increased the capital available to our funding streams in that way by 40% since the election, and I think that is exactly what my right honourable friend is seeking to do.

My noble friend is absolutely right on the importance of capital for start-ups and how we can enable them to scale up. It is why in the industrial strategy and the spending review we significantly increased the funding available to the British Business Bank to help innovative small companies to do exactly that. They now have record amounts of capital. We have increased the capital available to our funding streams in that way by 40% since the election, and I think that is exactly what my right honourable friend is seeking to do.

My Lords, I declare my interest as a director of the London Stock Exchange. In addition to the pull of US investors, does the Minister recognise that there are push factors making the UK a hostile environment for innovative, high-tech growth companies? There are neither public nor private sector customers, as the chair of GSK told our Science and Technology Committee recently. Excessive government retention of IP exploitation rights in procurement and grant contracts undermines companies’ growth prospects.

We are 45 years behind the US, which ended such emasculating IP contract terms in the Bayh–Dole Act, leading to the boom in revenue-producing high-tech companies and university spinoffs. Will HMT put its weight behind the economic benefit and long-term value for money that growth-friendly licensing contracts would have? Will the Minister meet to discuss these and how the UK can get its own Bayh–Dole effect?

My Lords, I declare my interest as a director of the London Stock Exchange. In addition to the pull of US investors, does the Minister recognise that there are push factors making the UK a hostile environment for innovative, high-tech growth companies? There are neither public nor private sector customers, as the chair of GSK told our Science and Technology Committee recently. Excessive government retention of IP exploitation rights in procurement and grant contracts undermines companies’ growth prospects.

We are 45 years behind the US, which ended such emasculating IP contract terms in the Bayh–Dole Act, leading to the boom in revenue-producing high-tech companies and university spinoffs. Will HMT put its weight behind the economic benefit and long-term value for money that growth-friendly licensing contracts would have? Will the Minister meet to discuss these and how the UK can get its own Bayh–Dole effect?

I am grateful to the noble Baroness for her question. I do not necessarily share the overall pessimism that she started her question with. Of course, reform is necessary and that is why next week at Mansion House the Chancellor will

publish the 10-year strategy for financial services, which I hope will cover some of the things the noble Baroness is talking about. We need to rebalance our system towards growth in the way she described.

I am grateful to the noble Baroness for her question. I do not necessarily share the overall pessimism that she started her question with. Of course, reform is necessary and that is why next week at Mansion House the Chancellor will

publish the 10-year strategy for financial services, which I hope will cover some of the things the noble Baroness is talking about. We need to rebalance our system towards growth in the way she described.