FCA corporate bonds proposals undo 20 years of restrictions for retail investors

‘One bond market open to all investors’

The proposals from the Financial Conduct Authority to give retail investors access to corporate bonds have been largely welcomed by the industry, moving investors back to exposure levels they previously enjoyed decades ago.

Michael Smith, head of debt capital markets at Winterflood, highlighted this point that the new measures were not something new for the market so to speak. FCA to cut red tape around corporate bonds in push for greater retail investor and wealth manager access In a white paper on the consultation, Smith highlighted that retail investors previously had access to a much wider range of low denomination corporate bonds up until 2005, when retail disclosure requirements came into force, prompting issuers to use high denominations to avoid them. He added that the number of low denominati...