FCA to launch private shares trading platform PISCES later in 2025

A new private stock market, the Private Intermittent Securities and Capital Exchange System (PISCES), is set to launch in the UK later in 2025, following the Financial Conduct Authority’s (FCA) announcement of final rules for the platform.
 

PISCES will allow shares in private companies to be traded among institutional investors, high-net-worth individuals, sophisticated investors, and employees of participating companies. The platform aims to provide growth companies with access to a broader pool of investors and offers new exit routes for existing shareholders.
 

The FCA said that as more companies opt to remain private for longer, there is growing demand for an organised marketplace for secondary trading in private company shares. PISCES is designed to meet this need, enabling companies to set the floor and ceiling for share prices and control who can purchase their shares. Trading will take place during intermittent events, rather than continuous trading as seen on public markets.
 

Access to PISCES will be restricted, and investors will receive information about the risks involved to support informed decision-making. The platform will initially operate within a sandbox environment, allowing the FCA and government to monitor its effectiveness before considering a permanent regime in 2030. Companies wishing to run a PISCES platform must apply to the FCA for approval.
 

Simon Walls, Executive Director of Markets, FCA

Simon Walls, executive director of markets at the FCA, commented:

“This bold design rebalances risk, but it is bold risk-taking that made the UK the leading financial centre it is today. The new platforms will give investors greater access and confidence to invest in exciting new companies, while early backers and employees can sell up and invest again. PISCES is the latest step in the FCA’s wide-ranging reforms to the UK’s markets to boost growth and competitiveness.”
 

Emma Reynolds, Economic Secretary

Emma Reynolds, Economic Secretary to the Treasury, added:

“PISCES is a great example of industry, regulators and the government working together to go further and faster on innovative reforms to strengthen UK capital markets, supporting economic growth and putting more money in people’s pockets as part of our Plan for Change. I welcome the FCA's announcement, which follows our legislation and opens PISCES to industry. This also builds on our announcements on a stamp taxes on shares exemption for PISCES transactions, and on employees retaining the tax advantages on eligible shares traded.”

Industry participants have also weighed in on the development. Dan Coatsworth, investment analyst at AJ Bell, said:

“The proposed new stock market called ‘PISCES’ won’t be like the ones people know today. It’s just for privately-owned companies and while it won’t be open to the public, there are positives from its creation. 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 public stock listing, getting them 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.”
 

The Treasury finalised the legislative framework for PISCES in May 2025, and the FCA has published guidance for firms interested in operating a PISCES platform. The initial trading is expected to begin later this year, with the government and regulator set to review the system before making it permanent.