AstraZeneca's Wall Street move drives a coach and horses through stamp duty regime

It was one of those votes where the majority was always going to be huge.

- Nils Pratley

AstraZeneca's proposal to list its shares directly on the New York Stock Exchange while retaining the quotes in London and Stockholm disadvantages nobody on the shareholder register.

US investors get the chance to own AstraZeneca in full-fat form rather than via American depositary receipts (a wrapper provided by a handful of banks), a rejig that should widen the pool of potential investors and help the company with any future big deals in the US.

Meanwhile, it keeps its presence in the FTSE 100 index, upsetting no shareholders on the home front. "A global listing for global investors in a global company," Pascal Soriot, the chief executive, called it. Sure enough, the proposal sailed through yesterday with 99% in favour.