{"id":149674,"date":"2026-02-18T17:11:13","date_gmt":"2026-02-18T16:11:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.startupbusiness.it\/secondary-equity-market-the-latest-development-from-pisces-in-the-united-kingdom\/149674\/"},"modified":"2026-02-18T18:53:16","modified_gmt":"2026-02-18T17:53:16","slug":"secondary-equity-market-the-latest-development-from-pisces-in-the-united-kingdom","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.startupbusiness.it\/en\/secondary-equity-market-the-latest-development-from-pisces-in-the-united-kingdom\/149674\/","title":{"rendered":"Secondary equity market, the latest development from PISCES in the United Kingdom"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

One of the issues that often acts as a brake on investment in start-ups by individuals or entities who, despite having liquidity, know little about the world of innovative businesses but would like to get involved, is the low level of liquidity. Therefore, when investing in a start-up, it is important to understand that such an investment supports the activities of the company itself and therefore cannot be entered into or exited from flexibly. These are patient investments that require a relatively long time to generate returns. One possible solution to this limitation is the so-called secondary market, where equity holders of innovative companies can, if they wish, sell and buy such assets. In Italy, this practice is not yet in place, or rather not in a massive and regulated way, which is why it is interesting to learn how the new system now operating in the United Kingdom works. Called PISCES, which stands for Private Intermittent Securities and Capital Exchange System, it is illustrated and explained in this article by experts from the London office of the law firm TLT. <\/em><\/p>\n\n

Unlocking liquidity in private markets: an overview of the new PISCES regime in the UK. What is PISCES? <\/h2>\n\n

The Private Intermittent Securities and Capital Exchange System (PISCES) is a new innovative platform for trading shares in private companies. PISCES is a regulated private stock market that allows intermittent and secondary trading of shares in British and foreign private companies, developed in collaboration between the UK Treasury, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and the London Stock Exchange (LSE). Unlike traditional public markets, PISCES will not allow companies to raise new capital through the issuance of new shares. It is strictly a secondary market, allowing shareholders to sell their existing shares to specific categories of investors. <\/p>\n\n

What has happened so far?<\/h2>\n\n

To test the PISCES regulatory framework, the FCA is running a sandbox until June 2030, which will allow it to refine the model and, depending on the results, either end the sandbox or make it permanent at a later stage. The FCA opened the sandbox in June 2025 and published a set of rules for institutions hosting a PISCES platform. In August 2025, the LSE became the first PISCES operator approved by the FCA, followed by JP Jenkins, which obtained approval to operate a trading platform within the sandbox in November 2025. On 5 February 2026, the LSE published the Private Securities Market Rules and the Private Securities Market Handbook applicable to its PISCES platform, the Private Securities Market (PSM), which supplement the basic regulatory framework contained in the FCA’s Sourcebook. <\/p>\n\n

Which companies can have their shares traded on a PISCES platform?<\/h2>\n\n

Both British and foreign private companies can trade their shares on PISCES platforms, provided that they are not listed on a public market in the UK or abroad. Although PISCES rules do not contain additional corporate governance requirements for PISCES companies, platform operators may (under their own rules) require minimum governance standards as a prerequisite for admission to trading. <\/p>\n\n

How does it differ from AIM or Aquis?<\/h2>\n\n

Unlike AIM or Aquis, PISCES allows intermittent rather than continuous trading, which means that companies retain privacy and flexibility. Furthermore, as already mentioned, PISCES is only a secondary market and does not allow companies to raise new capital by issuing new shares. <\/p>\n\n

Who can buy and sell shares on PISCES?<\/h2>\n\n

The following categories of investors will be able to purchase shares on PISCES platforms:<\/p>\n\n