UK rights issue pain — pre-emption rights may not survive

This is not a glorious day for Merrill Lynch, but many in the UK and Europe will envy the way it can just swoop on the market and increase its capital by 35% in 24 hours. That is possible because US shareholders lack the pre-emption rights UK investors enjoy. Those rights are a holy shrine of the UK capitalist system — but many would now like them to be curtailed or even eliminated.