CITY WHISPERS: Interest in LSE’s public-private exchange

London Stock Exchange boss Julia Hoggett says there has already been interest from global firms wanting to join its public-private exchange – the first in the world.

According to Hoggett’s outline, it would function as a place where private firms could auction shares, similar to the mainstream market.

The plan is for the ‘Intermittent Trading Venue’ – essentially a halfway house between private markets and a listing – to be up and running by next year. 

Signing on: Julia Hoggett says there has already been interest from global firms wanting to join the London Stock Exchange’s public-private exchange

The LSE is doing everything it can to boost the Square Mile and lure companies to its platforms after a series of high-profile snubs.

One crucial factor will help its marketing: a good name. Its initials ITV are obviously taken, so there’s a competition underway to find something snappy. 

In the spirit of the competition to name the research ship ultimately called the RRS Sir David Attenborough, may we suggest Floaty McFloatface?

Megasteel pain 

Further pain for the steel industry last week after the collapse of a bid for Wiltshire-based Megasteel from a company called, somewhat ironically, More Acquisitions. 

The board of Megasteel had been bombarded with ‘abusive and threatening’ vitriol by people claiming to be More Acquisitions shareholders. 

Megasteel pulled the plug after eight months of painstaking due diligence. 

Whispers hears murmurings that this has raised more than a few eyebrows among small-cap followers. 

Ocado top of most-shorted list

You win some, you lose some. Online grocer Ocado managed to avoid being demoted from the FTSE 100 in the latest reshuffle of the London Stock Exchange’s indexes.

British Land was booted out of the blue-chip club and into the mid-caps instead.

But Ocado has regained an unfortunate title, rising once again to the top of the list of the most-shorted stocks in London, according to data from the Financial Conduct Authority.

It was previously running in second place to Asos, which lost its place in the FTSE 250 in the reshuffle.

Asos’s shares have plunged this year, but a £75 million fundraising last month has put investors’ minds at ease and it is no longer among the top ten most-shorted shares.

Popularity brings scrutiny at Shein

Chinese firm Shein has risen rapidly to become the world’s most popular fast fashion brand. But with great popularity comes great scrutiny.

A Channel 4 documentary released last October shone a light on the long working hours and paltry wages of its factory workers in Guangzhou – which the company admitted and took steps to fix.

A new webinar – appealingly entitled Agile Supply Chain and the Future of the Fashion Industry – features Shein’s executive vice chairman Donald Tang.

Will the group outline how to overhaul the fast fashion industry? Probably not. We can but hope.