MPs have raised serious concerns that the UK could “compromise the integrity” of its financial markets by watering down listing rules to accommodate controversial fast-fashion giant Shein.
In a strongly worded letter to the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), the cross-party Business and Trade Committee said it would be “deeply concerned” if UK disclosure standards were weakened in a bid to attract Shein’s long-anticipated London Stock Exchange (LSE) flotation.
The intervention follows reports that Shein, a Chinese-founded firm now headquartered in Singapore, has filed confidentially to list in Hong Kong, seen by some as a way to pressure UK regulators into approving a London IPO while sidestepping contentious risk disclosure requirements.
Committee chair Liam Byrne MP warned the FCA that any effort to ease disclosure rules—particularly around alleged human rights violations in Shein’s supply chain—would risk damaging investor confidence and the UK’s global reputation.
“This would not only compromise the integrity of the UK’s listing regime,” Byrne wrote, “but could also risk reputational damage to the UK’s financial markets and undermine investor confidence that the UK was determined to champion only the highest international labour standards.”
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