Abstract
This chapter focuses on public offering of shares as a source of finance for companies, with emphasis on the legal requirements to provide the necessary information to prospective investors. It also considers the importance of a marketplace for selling shares at the best possible price, as well as the regulation of the financial services industry by the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000. In addition, it discusses two controls on share offers to the public under the Companies Act 2006 with respect to payment of underwriting commission and repayment of subscribers’ money if a share offer is not completely successful. The chapter examines the regulatory regimes for securities markets, some of the main reasons or advantages for going public, the prospectus requirement and any exemptions to it and how the law deals with misleading statements and omissions in prospectuses.
