Banks, fund managers and politicians are to meet on Monday to talk through some of the flaws and inefficiencies of the peculiarly British way that companies raise capital through rights issues.

The meeting, to be chaired by Hector Sants, chief executive at the Financial Services Authority and Kitty Ussher, the economic secretary, and attended by some of the City’s most prominent bankers, investors and practitioners, will look at pre-emption – one of the most jealously-guarded shareholder rights in the UK.