MARKET TALK: UK OFT To Study Equity Underwriting

10th Jun 2010 08:20

0720 GMT [Dow Jones] The UK Office of Fair Trading plans to undertake a market study into equity underwriting and associated services. In 2009, companies raised an estimated GBP70B of equity capital in the UK, says Seymour Pierce, paying an estimated GBP2B in fees for equity underwriting and associated services. Seymour says initial discussions have confirmed that there is some dissatisfaction with these services among corporate users. As far as UK banks are concerned, whilst Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS.LN) and Barclays (BCS) have now bought equity investment banking businesses, these are relatively small in the context of their groups. Barclays -1.2% at 279p, RBS -1.5% at 41p. ([email protected]) Contact us in London. +44-20-7842-9464 [email protected] (END) Dow Jones Newswires June 10, 2010 03:20 ET (07:20 GMT)