London's FCA said to unveil LSE rules overhaul for Aramco IPO

The City of London’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) will unveil this week its decision on plans to offer a new listing category that would allow listing of Saudi Aramco on the London Stock Exchange (LSE), according to a report in British media.

The FCA, which regulates the financial services industry in the UK, will announce its response to a consultation on a “premium listing” status for sovereign-controlled companies on Friday morning, City AM reported.

The "premium" listing category will allow companies that are controlled by sovereign states such as Saudi Aramco to meet less onerous transparency requirements compared to other companies trying to list on LSE and allow them to float a smaller proportion of shares than usual.

The consultation response was originally planned for Q4 2017, the report added.

Last month, Saudi energy minister Khalid Al-Falih said the Kingdom is most likely to hold the initial public offering (IPO) of Aramco in 2019.