But some of the world’s most successful and admired enterprises –such as Microsoft, Amazon, Google, VW, Berkshire Hathaway, Walmart, Inditex, Roche and BMW – have large reference shareholders. As has been observed in recent reports by Professor John Kay and Sir George Cox, such an ownership structure can assist companies to adopt a longer-term perspective in the face of equity market pressure to deliver short-term returns.

It should also be recognised that the normal UK situation of dispersed corporate ownership brings its own governance problems. The absence of a major shareholder can lead to the domination of a company by the CEO and other key executives. This can have undesirable implications for executive pay levels and corporate risk taking. The gulf between owners and managers has proved to be a particular problem in the UK financial sector, with key employees effectively running banks for their own financial benefit.

When evaluating a new entrant to the London market, the most important consideration should be corporate transparency. The listing rules should not undermine the UK’s flexible governance approach, based on the UK Corporate Governance Code and the associated "comply or explain" principle.

Based on full and fair disclosure, it should be for shareholders to exercise their own judgment over whether to invest in a company with concentrated or widely-held ownership. This may make uncomfortable reading for the supposedly "sophisticated" investors and index funds that originally invested in ENRC and Bumi with little regard for governance as long as the share price went up.

The dramatic boardroom disputes at ENRC and Bumi have highlighted the unfamiliar governance challenges faced by boards and minority shareholders in UK-listed companies with controlling shareholders.

But if companies from around the world are willing to embrace the highest standards of transparency and ethics, there is no reason why they should not continue to be an important part of a diverse London equity market.

Dr Roger Barker is head of Corporate Governance at the Institute of Directors