The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has launched a consultation on proposals for a private stockmarket.
The Private Intermittent Securities and Capital Exchange System (PISCES) was proposed by chancellor Rachel Reeves during her Mansion House speech last month.
Under the proposals, the new platform would be developed using a ‘financial markets infrastructure sandbox’, which allows the regulator to test the design before finalising the permanent structure.
The Treasury is aiming to bring a statutory instrument before parliament by May 2025, which will provide the legal framework for the PISCES Sandbox.
The FCA said it expects to publish its final rules shortly after. The regulator is consulting on risk warnings for investors around PISCES.
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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.”
Firms wishing to run a PISCES platform will have to apply to the regulator, and once approved will be able to run intermittent trading events.
Further information will be published in early 2025 for firms interested in running a PISCES platform.
Tulip Siddiq, economic secretary to the Treasury, added: “PISCES will be an innovative new type of stock market for trading for private company shares and is a significant step forward in our reforms to capital markets. It will give investors the chance to get in on the ground floor of some of the most exciting companies and support the growth of those businesses.
“Today’s consultation marks a significant step towards delivery of the new market next year and sits alongside our wider programme of reforms to boost competitiveness and investment. That includes the FCA’s overhaul of the UK listing rules and the creation of pension megafunds which will unlock billions of pounds of potential investment in businesses.”
