Quezi

City of London skyline (photo by wsuph001 CC-BY)

Surprisingly it would seem that the rest of world hold the most shares in UK companies listed on the UK Stock Exchange. According to the latest statistics, in July 2006 the rest of the world held 40% of the shares, representing over £742 billion of investment. Of this 33% was held by North American investors.

This large holding indicates the continuing importance of the City of London as an international financial centre with companies moving their registered domicile to the UK. International mergers and creation of UK subsidiaries of foreign companies are also a contributing factor.

Following the rest of the world are insurance companies at 15%, and UK individuals at 13%.

A more detailed report can be found on the UK Statistics Authority website.