The UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) said this week that it has approved the London Stock Exchange (LSE) as the first operator of PISCES, a new type of private stock market designed to broaden investor access to fast-growing companies.
FCA Approves LSE as First Operator of New Private Stock Market PISCES
PISCES, or the Private Intermittent Securities and Capital Exchange System, will allow buyers and sellers of shares in private companies to trade on an intermittent basis.
It is the world’s first regulated private stock market and will operate initially within the FCA’s financial markets infrastructure sandbox before a permanent regime is finalised in 2030.
Simon Walls, executive director of markets at the FCA, said the approval marked “a major milestone in our drive to boost growth and unlock capital investment,” adding that it would help seed “a competitive market that gives greater investor access to exciting growth companies.”
LSE chief executive Julia Hoggett welcomed the approval, describing it as “a significant step towards the launch of our Private Securities Market later this year.”
She added that the initiative would support firms “across all stages of their growth” by strengthening the continuum between private and public markets.
Emma Reynolds, economic secretary to the Treasury, said the development showed government, regulators and industry working together to enhance the UK’s capital markets.
“This government is committed to working with the regulators and business to enhance our capital markets offering, supporting economic growth, and putting more money in working people’s pockets as part of our Plan for Change,” she said.
