PISCES (trading days for private company shares)
A new kind of regulated market where shareholders in a private company can sell existing shares on set trading days. It does not raise new money for the company, but it lets founders, early investors and staff sell some shares while the company stays private.
- Shares
How it works
PISCES does not raise new money for the company. Only existing shares change hands. Use it when shareholders want to sell, or to make shares more attractive to employees and investors because they can be sold later.
The Private Intermittent Securities and Capital Exchange System (PISCES) lets shares in private companies trade during intermittent trading events run by FCA-approved operators. It is a sandbox: the Treasury must report to Parliament on whether it is working by June 2030.
- Company control: the company decides when trading events happen, who may take part and the price limits.
- Who can buy: sophisticated investors (including self-certified), high net worth individuals and institutional investors. Employees of the company can also buy or sell.
- Disclosures: the company must publish a minimum set of core disclosures to participants, plus anything the operator's rules require.
- Which companies: private companies, from the UK or abroad, whose shares are not already traded on a trading venue.
Four operators have been approved: London Stock Exchange (its Private Securities Market), JP Jenkins, Asset Match and Vestd.
Upsides and downsides
Upsides
- Shareholders, including staff, can sell some shares without a full listing
- The company controls timing, buyers and price limits
- A step towards a stock market listing, with lighter rules
Downsides
- No new money for the company
- New and untested market, running as a sandbox until at least 2030
- Buyers are limited to certain types of investor
Risks
- Few buyers at a trading event, so shares sell at a low price or not at all
- Disclosure mistakes leading to claims from investors
- The rules may change when the sandbox is reviewed
What it costs
- How it is priced
- Existing shareholders sell shares to new investors. Operator and adviser fees apply
- Costs that are easy to miss
- Operator fees and adviser costs to prepare disclosures
- Management time on disclosures for each trading event
- New shareholders with rights to information
Set by how many shares existing shareholders choose to sell. No new money goes to the company.
Does it fit?
Could fit when
- Shareholders want to sell some of their shares while the company stays private
- You are a growing company with investors or staff who hold shares
Unlikely to fit when
- You need new money for the company (PISCES only lets existing shareholders sell)
- It raises no new money for the company, so it cannot pay for growth or an acquisition
Who can use it
- Business types: Private limited company, Public limited company
- A private company whose shares are not already traded on a trading venue or overseas multilateral system
- The company must publish the required disclosures
- Buyers must be eligible investors, such as sophisticated, high net worth or institutional investors, or employees
Am I ready?
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- Core disclosures
- Clean share register and articles
- An approved operator
Regulation and protections
PISCES platforms are run by operators approved by the FCA under the PISCES sandbox. Companies must make the required disclosures to investors.
Types of provider: FCA-approved PISCES operators.
Also consider
Sources
- FCA: PISCES: platforms for trading private company shares · checked 7 October 2026
- FCA: FCA rings bell on new type of private stock market in growth boost (10 June 2025) · checked 7 October 2026
- LSEG: London Stock Exchange's new Private Securities Market receives PISCES Approval Notice (26 August 2025) · checked 7 October 2026