£2trillion oil firm’s stock listing faces a backlash

A BACKLASH has begun against the proposed £2trillion float of Saudi Arabia’s vast oil reserves on the UK stock market.

The Gulf state wants to sell about 5pc of its national oil company, Aramco, in what many are touting as a boost to post-Brexit Britain. But to do so would require it bending London Stock Exchange rules which insist at least a quarter of a company has to be floated in order to get a premium listing.

The reason for this requirement is so that investors in a company’s shares have enough sway over its board.

Yesterday Royal London Asset Management became the latest big name to speak out, with head of corporate governance Ashley Hamilton Claxton deeming it highly inappropriate. She added: ‘ While the listing would be a prize asset, the attempt to list just 5pc of the total share capital flies in the face of what is acceptable.’

Yesterday chief executive Amin Nasser told the BBC: ‘We have always been transparent with one shareholder, which is the government, and we have been transparent with our board.’