Reeves urged to give  stamp duty holiday for fresh stock exchange listings

Rachel Reeves has been urged to offer a stamp obligation vacation for firms after they listing on London’s inventory alternate as her Taskforce seems to be for tactics to spice up the beleaguered bourse.

Representatives of the chancellor’s listings taskforce, which she arrange after her Mansion Home speech in July, have floated an up-to-five-year break on stamp obligation.

Stamp obligation, which is levied at 0.5 per cent of the worth of a transaction when buyers purchase shares, was described as a “psychological barrier” by Charles Corridor, head of analysis at funding financial institution Peel Hunt.

Corridor informed The Sunday Occasions that obligation reduction would handle considerations aired by fintechs in regards to the tax on share buying and selling: “Quite a lot of fintechs which can be pondering of itemizing really feel very strongly about stamp obligation”.

The Metropolis faces competitors from America and the UAE for fintech funding, that are each fruitful sources fundraising.

The capital’s market was dealt a crushing blow after cash switch agency Sensible transferred its major itemizing to the US because the agency cited the “deeper liquidity” supplied in New York.

It has seen a string of excessive profile departures already this yr, whereas 88 corporations both delisted or transferred their major itemizing in 2024 – the largest exodus because the monetary disaster.

Whereas stamp obligation raises about £4bn a yr for the Treasury, proponents of the break have argued that London’s extraordinarily low charge of latest listings imply that the tax take can be primarily unaffected.

Sue Noffke, head of UK equities at funding supervisor Schroders, informed The Sunday Occasions: “There can be a bang to your buck by way of what it’s signalling. The attractiveness of what it may do for IPOs can be actually useful.”

Charlie Walker, deputy chief govt of the London Inventory Trade, mentioned stamp obligation “disincentives funding in UK firms and “we’d welcome a evaluate of stamp obligation to ensure it’s match for goal”.

Metropolis AM has contacted the Treasury for remark.