What's going on?

The UK announced on Wednesday that it�ll act fast on proposed changes to make the country a totally dope place for young, fast-growing companies to list their stocks.

What does this mean?

With London-based listings only accounting for around 5% of all global stock market debuts between 2015 and 2020, the UK is well and truly on the back foot � not to mention at risk of losing investors� money to frontrunners and up-and-comers alike (think New York and Amsterdam). A report released Tuesday, then, proposed a couple of changes to help the country raise its game. First, it recommended letting founders hold onto more control of their businesses than they get to at the moment. And second, it suggested making the rules around special-purpose acquisition companies (SPACs) � the back-in-vogue investments that use the money they raise to buy another, usually private, company � more favorable.

Why should I care?

Zooming out: SPACs are going global.�

The UK�s not the only country hoping to woo SPACs: Hong Kong � which has previously kept them off limits � is thinking about finally giving them the A-okay. And it�s easy to see why it might�ve changed its mind, with investors having put $60 billion into SPACs in the first two months of this year � already more than 70% of 2020�s total.

For you personally: Retail investors still have to wait in line.�

The review was just as noteworthy for what it didn�t include � namely proposals that would get retail investors more involved in initial public offerings, despite a recent push from the UK�s three biggest trading platforms. That means institutional investors are still the only ones that get to buy in at the company�s listing price, while retail investors will generally have to wait to buy shares at a premium once it starts trading.