The FCA requires that UK-listed companies release key news via a Regulated Information Service. For anyone working in or around investor relations, understanding how this system works is fundamental. Here we explain the landscape, the role of the London Stock Exchange's RNS, and how companies manage regulatory disclosure in practice.

How regulatory information dissemination works

The FCA mandates that listed companies release price-sensitive and regulated information through an authorised Regulated Information Service. Most people assume this means the London Stock Exchange's RNS service — and given its dominant market share, that assumption is understandable — but there are in fact several authorised providers.

The FCA maintains a list of authorised Regulatory Information Service Providers, though this list has not been updated for some years and several providers have ceased operation or merged. The providers, as stated by the FCA, are:

  • RNS, or Regulatory News Service, provided by the London Stock Exchange
  • Business Wire Regulatory Disclosure
  • PR Newswire Disclose
  • FirstSight provided by Romeike
  • Announce provided by Hugin ASA
  • News Release Express from CCN Matthews UK, which later became Marketwire

Further detail on the requirements to become a Primary Information Provider can be found in FCA's DTR 8 in the FCA Handbook.

Why regulatory announcements matter

For anyone buying and selling shares in UK companies, RNS and similar services are the most important source of company news. Announcements released on these platforms frequently form the basis of investors' and traders' decisions to open or close positions. The timeliness, accuracy, and accessibility of this information directly affects market integrity.

The Regulatory News Service

RNS was launched by the London Stock Exchange in 1988, replacing the earlier Company News Service. It is estimated to hold more than 90% of the UK regulatory disclosure market. For institutional and retail investors alike, RNS is synonymous with UK company news — to the extent that announcements released via other platforms are still commonly referred to as RNS announcements.

It is a requirement of maintaining a UK listing that companies keep a record of all regulatory announcements on their website. Some companies do this by embedding a widget that feeds announcements automatically, others use an RNS data feed to build custom integrations, and others post announcements manually. All announcements are also available through third-party platforms such as Ticker.

If you would like to discuss how regulatory data fits into your investor platform, get in touch.