The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) have announced that PISCES, a new market for private (i.e. unlisted) shares will launch later this year. To quote from the announcement: “PISCES is a new type of platform where shares in private companies can be traded. It will open the door to more opportunities for investors, facilitating their access to growth companies. Private companies can tap into a broader range of investors and asset managers and PISCES offers exits for shareholders to sell up. As companies choose to stay private for longer, there is demand for investors to trade private company shares easily and efficiently in an organised marketplace. PISCES meets this demand by allowing secondary trading of these shares. Companies can set the floor and ceiling of share prices, and have a say over who can buy their shares”.
But will there be liquidity in the shares traded on this platform? And will investors get all the information required to make sound judgements about the merits of private companies?
There may just be big new opportunities to promote dubious companies by the wide boys who frequent financial markets.
See https://www.fca.org.uk/news/press-releases/fca-rings-bell-new-type-private-stock-market-growth-boost for more information.
The Investors Chronicle published an article last week entitled “The next 30 years of AIM”. In my view AIM has not been a success, particularly of late. Companies have been leaving AIM because of high listing costs and general reputational concerns (too many AIM companies have turned out to be run by dubious characters, with fraudulent accounts).
Although I personally have had some good successes investing in AIM companies, I have also had some failures which have offset the good ones. I now take great care about investing in AIM companies and never touch new IPOs.
How to fix AIM? Tougher listing rules are required such as longer track records.
Roger Lawson (Twitter: https://x.com/RogerWLawson )
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