
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has set out plans for the new stock market, saying it will open the door to more opportunities for investors to take stakes in private companies.
The regulator is currently consulting on the plans. If successful, Pisces could generate a pipeline of companies for a full IPO on a public market in the future and could provide opportunities for more diversified returns for investors. The FCA said greater confidence to invest in these companies would lead to more funding to help them to grow and scale up.
Simon Walls, interim executive director of markets at the FCA, said: “Next year we will ring the bell on a new private stock market that could transform how private companies access funds and grow. It will offer investors more access and a greater confidence to invest in private companies and could act as a stepping stone to public markets for those firms.
“We want to work with industry and ensure we have the right building blocks in place to support investment in growing companies.”
Pisces was a central pillar of the Chancellor’s Mansion House speech just over a month ago, and the FCA has been working in partnership with the Treasury to build the right framework.

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The FCA will work with market participants, industry leaders, trade bodies and platform operators to develop a proportionate regulatory framework that can support growth and enable innovation.
Dan Coatsworth, investment analyst at AJ Bell, said: “The proposed new stock market called ‘Pisces’ could help private companies get used to the idea of slices of their business being owned by different people. It might act as a stepping stone towards a full IPO and fits well into broader plans to make the UK a more attractive place for companies to list their shares.
“Pisces should help privately owned companies get used to regular financial reporting, transparency as a business, and understanding that a company is run for the best interests of shareholders, not the board of directors.
“It could also encourage staff in companies using Pisces to develop a saving and investing habit. One of the biggest stumbling blocks for private company share ownership is that staff are often put off by the general inability to sell those shares at regular intervals.
“A lot of private companies won’t offer the ability for staff to trade shares, meaning some people are stuck owning the equity until the business either lists on a public market or there is an internal event where they can sell down.
“In theory, Pisces could improve liquidity by allowing private company shares to be traded at more regular intervals. However, it has only been designed for intermittent trading, not the continuous trading during market hours that you get with publicly listed stocks. Such restrictions would give a company control over when changes in share ownership can happen.”