London Stock Exchange gets go-ahead to run Pisces private stock market
The Financial Conduct Authority has given the London Stock Exchange the green light to operate a new Pisces private stock market, clearing the path for the market’s launch later this year.
The City watchdog confirmed on Tuesday that London’s flagship stock exchange had become the first operator to receive approval to run Pisces – a marketplace that will allow investors to buy and sell shares in large private companies intermittently.
The regulator’s green light clears one of the final logistical hurdles in the process of launching the long-awaited scheme in the autumn and was hailed by London Stock Exchange (LSE) boss Julia Hoggett as a “significant step” towards it becoming operational.
“We are delighted to be the first venue operator to have been granted a PISCES Approval Notice by the FCA,” she said.
“Following several years of innovative development by the UK government and regulators with active engagement from practitioners across the market, the London Stock Exchange has now taken a significant step towards the launch of our Private Securities Market later this year.”
Pisces – an acronym for Private Intermittent Securities and Capital Exchange System – was first proposed by the Treasury over two years ago as a means of boosting liquidity in private markets and encouraging large start-ups and scale-ups to list in London.
LSE courts start-up heavyweights for Pisces launch
Last month, Morning Wire revealed that Revolut, Octopus Energy and SME lender Oaknorth were among two dozen firms considering joining the market after attending a private conference hosted by Hoggett and the LSE this spring.
The market has been touted as a potential antidote to firms opting to stay private for longer, starving London’s beleaguered bourse of new entrants as it battles to stem a flow of departures into private hands or to the US.
Meanwhile, Treasury and FCA officials hope private companies will use Pisces as a potential stepping stone to a listing, while also allowing dealmakers to free up capital to then reinvest in other start-ups.
City minister Emma Reynolds said the FCA’s green light represents the “latest significant milestone for PISCES”, adding: “I look forward to seeing the first PISCES trading events.”
“This new market demonstrates our commitment to the creation of a genuine funding continuum from the private to public markets so that businesses in the UK and around the world can be effectively supported across all stages of their growth,” the LSE’s Hoggett added.
“We look forward to welcoming the first private companies to utilise the market when they have completed their preparations and to expanding the options they will have to realise their ambitions.”