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By Freya Berry and Anthony Deutsch
LONDON/AMSTERDAM, May 20 (Reuters) - A slowdown in companylistings in London due to uncertainty around the upcoming Brexitreferendum could be helping European rival Amsterdam's stockmarket, which has seen a rise in activity this year.
London - traditionally Europe's busiest stock exchange - hasseen just over $2 billion raised from listings so far this year,a fraction of the almost $18 billion gathered over all of 2015,according to Thomson Reuters data.
Industry experts put much of the dip down to a reluctance toact ahead of the country's June 23 referendum on whether to stayin the European Union. A vote to quit the 28-nation bloc wouldhave an uncertain outcome; it could prompt a swing in the valueof sterling and affect Britain's economy.
"The IPO (initial public offering) market ... isincreasingly becoming more cautious as the Brexit vote getscloser," said Laurence Sacker, a corporate finance expert withaccountants UHY Hacker Young.
The Dutch capital's stock market, though far smaller thanLondon's, is well placed to benefit, say officials at theEuronext Amsterdam exchange. The city is a big continentalfinancial hub, where more than 1 trillion euros of assets aremanaged by pension funds and other institutions, and has anattractive corporate tax system that helps some multinationalslower their rates, sometimes to below 10 percent.
The number of listings that have either taken place in thecity or are in the pipeline is at its highest level since 1999for this point of the year.
The Amsterdam stock market - which raised $7.6 billion fromnew listings last year - has already had three IPOs in 2016,with at least another five planned, putting it on track to beatthe nine listings in both 2014 and 2015.
Joost Kromhout, head of listings at Euronext Amsterdam, saidBritain's referendum had prompted some companies to chose theNetherlands to sell their shares.
"The referendum is playing a role now in the decisions aboutwhen companies go to the market," he said, adding that stability"gives investors the confidence needed to invest".
"There is a nice list of companies in the market, or thathave expressed their intention to float," he said. "The pipelinefor this year is solid."
Those companies with plans to float in Amsterdam this yearinclude Philips Lighting, Dutch insurer ASR and 3i Group's gym chain Basic-Fit.
Sif Group, which makes parts for offshore energyplatforms, went public in Amsterdam last week, while agriculturecompany ForFarmers announced plans on Tuesday alongwith Basic-Fit.
An official at Basic Fit, which unveiled its offering onTuesday, said that Brexit was one of the reasons that somecompanies were choosing to launch now to get their deals done bythe time of the vote. (Additional reporting and writing by John O'Donnell; Editing byPravin Char)
