LONDON, Dec 19 Reuters Britain39;s markets watchdog has proposed a single entry point to simplify and speed up company listings, in the biggest shake up of its kind in three decades to help London compete better with New York as well as EU centres in the wake of Brexit.

Britain accounted for only 5 of IPOs globally between 2015 and 2020, with the number of listings down by about 40 from a peak in 2008. The government failed to persuade UK chip designer Arm to list in London rather than New York.

As expected, the Financial Conduct Authority FCA said it proposes merging the premium listing on the London Stock Exchange which has tougher rules with the less onerous standard listing to meet one set of criteria under the banner of a commercial company listing.

It largely mirrors a discussion paper from last year that triggered some concern about a return to lighttouch regulation.

We are working to strengthen the attractiveness of UK capital markets and supporting UK competitiveness and growth, Sarah Pritchard, FCA executive director for markets and international, said in a statement.

It was important that others consider what they in turn can do to make sure the UK remains an attractive place for companies to raise capital given listing rules were not the primary reason for choosing a location, the FCA said.

It has proposed relying more on disclosures by companies, rather than specific rules, thereby transferring more of the risk from an IPO to investors.

Companies…