ABI |
Association of British Insurers – financial services trade association, representing the interests of the UK’s insurance industry. |
ADRs |
American Depositary Receipts. A means of owning shares in foreign companies, denominated in US dollars. |
AIM |
Alternative Investment Market run by the LSE. |
APCIMS |
Association of Private Client Investment Managers and Stockbrokers – association of firms who deal in stocks and shares for private investors. |
Arbitrage |
Buying shares in one country, currency, or market and selling in another to exploit price differences. |
ASB |
Accounting Standards Board. UK accounting regulatory board, part of the FRC. |
Bear Market
|
A market state when share prices are falling or expected to fall. |
BERR |
Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform |
Bid offer spread |
The difference between the bid and offer prices of a security. |
Bid price |
The quoted price for buying shares in a security. |
BIMBO |
Brought In Management Buy Out. |
|
Italy's main stock exchange, which merged with the London Stock Exchange in 2007.
|
Bull Market |
A market state when share prices are rising or expected to rise. |
CBI |
Confederation of British Industry – employers’ association representing the views of UK businesses. |
CESR |
The Committee of European Securities Regulators – independent committee established under terms of European Commission’s Decision, 6 June 2001. |
CREST |
A paperless share settlement system, introduced in 1996. |
|
The German stock market.
|
DOL |
Daily Official List - The daily record setting out the prices of all trades in securities conducted on the LSE. |
DRs |
Depositary Receipts – certificates that enable investors to own shares in foreign companies. |
EC |
European Commission – executive branch of the EU. |
EIS |
Enterprise Investment Scheme – share scheme programme. |
EMI |
Enterprise Management Incentive scheme – share scheme programme. |
ETF |
Exchange Traded Fund – collective investment vehicle that track indices. |
EU |
European Union – economic and political confederation of 25 member states. |
|
A pan-European organisation representing the majority of publicly quoted companies in Europe.
|
FASB |
Financial Accounting Standards Board – US accountancy regulator |
Flotation |
A company’s first offer of shares on a public stock market. Also known as an IPO. |
FRC |
Financial Reporting Council – UK’s independent regulator for corporate reporting and governance. |
Free Float |
The number of shares that are freely tradable in the public market or markets on which a company's securities are listed |
FSA |
Financial Services Authority – independent body, which regulates all aspects of the financial services industry in Britain. |
FSMA |
Financial Services and Markets Act 2000. |
FTSE |
Financial Times Stock Exchange – the organisation, co-owned by the Financial Times and the LSE, which creates and manages indices. |
Gold-plating |
When national bodies exceed the terms of EC directives when implementing them into national law. |
Grandfathering |
To exempt those already involved in a regulated activity from the provisions of new regulations. |
HGSC Index |
Hoare Govett Smaller Companies Index. The bottom tenth of all listed UK equities, rebalanced annually. |
HGSC + AIM index |
HGSC index plus AIM stocks that meet size limit. |
HG1000 |
Hoare Govett 1000 – the bottom two percent of the UK market (ex-investment companies). |
HMRC |
Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs. Government department formed in April 2005 after the merger of Inland Revenue and HM Customs and Excise. Responsible for collecting and administering taxes. |
HM Treasury |
The UK’s economics and finance ministry – responsible for forming and implementing financial and economic policy. |
IAS |
International Accounting Standard – issued by IASB. |
IASB |
International Accounting Standards Board – international accounting standards-setter. |
IASC Foundation |
International Accounting Standards Council Foundation – oversight body of IASB. |
ICSA |
Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators. |
ICB |
International Classification Benchmark. Devised by FTSE and Dow Jones Indexes, classifies listed companies by sectors and industries. Introduced January 2006. |
IFRSs |
International Financial Reporting Standards – issued by IASB. |
Index |
A device that measures the changes in a selection of stocks, e.g. the FTSE 100 measures the price changes of the largest 100 UK companies. |
Introduction |
A process whereby a company joins a market without raising capital, it simply introduces existing shares to the market. |
IoD |
Institute of Directors – professional body representing individual directors from all business sectors. |
IPO |
Initial Public Offering – a company’s first listing of shares on a public market. Also known as a “floatation”. |
IR |
Investor Relations. |
LSE |
London Stock Exchange. |
Main Market |
The LSE’s principal market for listed companies. |
Market Capitalisation |
The value of a listed company. Calculated by multiplying the share price by the number of shares in issue. |
Market Maker |
A broker-dealer firm which quotes a buy and sell price in a listed firm. |
MTF |
Multilateral Trading Facility. |
Mid-Price |
Literally the middle between the bid and offer prices of a share. |
MiFID |
Markets in Financial Instruments Directive. |
NAPF |
National Association of Pension Funds. |
NASDAQ |
New York based electronic stock market. Literally, “National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotation System”, although nowadays NASDAQ or Nasdaq is used as a proper noun. |
NED |
Non-Executive Director. |
Nomad |
Nominated Adviser – accountant/broker/institution recognised by LSE who warrants to the exchange that your company is appropriate for joining AIM. |
NYSE Euronext |
A Euro-American group that operates multiple exchange securities, most notably Euronext (in Paris, Brussels, Amsterdam and Lisbon) and NYSE (New York Stock Exchange). |
Offer price |
Quoted share price for selling shares. |
Official List |
A list of securities maintained by the UK Listing Authority. The Official List includes all securities that are approved for trading in the UK on an RIE. |
POTAM |
Panel On Takeovers And Mergers. Also known as The Takeover Panel. Issues and administers the City Code on Takeovers and Mergers. |
PLUS Corporate Adviser |
An accountant/broker/institution recognised by PLUS who is authorised to bring companies to the market. The role of the Corporate Adviser is broadly similar to that of the Nomad for AIM companies.
|
|
An independent stock exchange for small and mid-cap companies based in London.
|
PLUS-Listed |
A market operated by PLUS Markets Group that is comparable in regulatory status to the LSE's Main Market.
|
PLUS-Quoted |
An exchange-regulated market operated by PLUS Markets Group, which is comparable in regulatory status to the LSE's AIM.
|
QCA |
The Quoted Companies Alliance. |
RIC |
Reuters Instrument Code – a code used to identify financial instruments and indices. |
RIE |
Recognised Investment Exchange. A stock exchange sanctioned by the FSA. |
RSPs |
Retail Service Providers – provide electronic pricing and execution services. |
SEAQ |
The Stock Exchange Automated Quotations system. Operated by the LSE, SEAQ is an electronic notice board used by market makers to display buy and sell prices of some UK shares. |
SEATS Plus |
Trading model on which all AIM and some main list securities are traded. |
Security |
General name for stocks and shares of all types. |
SEDOL |
Stock Exchange Daily Official List code - a 7 digit alphanumeric reference for a listed security. |
SEC |
Securities and Exchange Commission – US financial regulator. |
SETS |
Stock Exchange Electronic Trading Service. An automated electronic execution system. |
SETSmm |
A version of SETS used for Mid Cap, some Small Cap, and AIM 50 securities. Combines automation of SETS with traditional market makers. |
SOX |
Sarbanes-Oxley. US accounting regulation enacted in response to the bankruptcies of Enron and WorldCom. |
SQCs |
Smaller quoted companies defined as quoted companies on the Main Market outside the FTSE 350 and those quoted on AIM and PLUS. |
UKLA |
United Kingdom Listing Authority. |
VIMBO |
Vendor Initiated Management Buy Out. |
WFE |
World Federation of Exchanges. |
