The Conservative Party has pledged bold moves on company takeovers and executive pay that will rouse keen interest in the City, as it unveiled its programme of policies to be implemented if it wins the UK general election on June 8.

The Conservatives' manifesto document, published today, included pledges to ensure that "all promises and undertakings made in the course of takeover bids can be legally enforced afterwards", and that the government can "require a bid to be paused" for greater scrutiny.