Lucy Rigby, the economic secretary to the Treasury and the government’s City minister, has indicated that capital markets reform will continue, saying the work so far is ‘definitely not a job done.’ Speaking to City AM, Rigby said the government was ‘continually looking for ways that we can ensure we’re being as competitive as possible,’ adding that vigilance on global competition was essential.
‘This isn’t just about our capital markets, but a much broader question for our financial services sector,’ she said.
Reform underway but IPO market remains quiet
The government has already made changes to listing incentives. In the 2025 Budget, then-Chancellor Rachel Reeves launched a stamp duty holiday, removing the 0.5 per cent levy on UK stocks for newly-listed companies in their first three years of trading. Rigby pointed to the £5.3bn IPO of Airtel Money (described as the City’s biggest listing in five years) as evidence of ‘renewed momentum.’
She told City AM that the reforms were ‘starting to bear some fruit,’ while acknowledging that a ‘concerted and continued effort’ would be needed. The broader picture remains subdued, however, with several high-profile names rumoured to be considering a float either delaying or dropping their plans entirely.
Stamp duty and surcharge threshold in the lobbying frame
Industry groups have kept up pressure on the Treasury ahead of the Budget. Fintech industry body Innovate Finance, whose members include Revolut, Monzo and Zilch, has called for stamp duty to be abolished entirely to ‘help reverse the decline in British ownership of UK companies.’ Rigby acknowledged the pressure directly: ‘I wouldn’t be doing my job properly if I hadn’t heard many calls to do something about stamp.’
UK fintech investment fell to £1.8bn in the first half of the year, down roughly two-thirds from the £5bn the year prior, according to the source. Rigby said the figure was ‘not an amount of money to be sniffed at’ but confirmed the Treasury was making a ‘very considerable effort’ to improve access to capital. She met with the chief executives of iwoca, Clearbank and Modulur earlier in October 2026 as part of those efforts.
A separate lobbying push has focused on the banking surcharge threshold. Revolut and Monzo joined Shawbrook, Aldemore and other challenger banks in calling for the threshold at which banks face a sector-specific tax to be raised from £100m to £500m. Rigby declined to pre-empt the Chancellor on tax, saying: ‘Decisions on all forms of tax are for the Chancellor and he’ll make them in the context of the Budget.’
She closed with a broad argument for the sector’s role in growth: ‘There is no route to good growth in every postcode that doesn’t involve our world-leading financial services sector supporting the ambitions of the whole country.’ The Budget will be the next formal point at which tax decisions, including any further moves on stamp duty or the surcharge, are expected to be announced.
