| What | Private Intermittent Securities and Capital Exchange System |
| Rules | FCA rules since June 2025, a Treasury sandbox |
| Review | Treasury report to Parliament by June 2030 |
| Approved operators | four sandbox participants |
| For whom | private companies located in the UK or overseas |
| Updated | November 2026 |
What PISCES is
PISCES stands for Private Intermittent Securities and Capital Exchange System. The FCA describes it as a new kind of private stock market meant to make trading in private company shares easier and faster. The key word is intermittent: there is no continuous trading, only trading windows that open occasionally, not frequently, and for a limited time. When a window opens and how long it lasts is up to the platform operator.
PISCES is expressly not a listing. The shares are not admitted to an exchange, and that is a condition: shares already traded on a trading venue under UK financial markets law, or on an overseas multilateral system, cannot trade on PISCES. If you are already on AIM or Aquis, this is not for you.
A sandbox until 2030: where PISCES stands today
The FCA published its PISCES rules in June 2025, under the Treasury's 2025 sandbox regulations. By June 2030 the Treasury must report to Parliament on whether PISCES works as intended. Until then everything runs inside a sandbox, a time-limited test framework. After that the Treasury and the FCA decide whether PISCES gets a permanent footing in law.
As of November 2026 the FCA has approved four operators as sandbox participants: London Stock Exchange plc, JP Jenkins Limited, Asset Match Limited and Vestd Limited. Every approved operator must publish its approval on its website, and the FCA keeps a list. So always check that a platform advertising PISCES really is on that list.
What the company itself controls
The appeal of PISCES lies in how much control stays with the company. Under the rules it can decide:
- when its shares may be traded
- who may buy its shares, where that promotes or protects its legitimate commercial interests
- a minimum and/or maximum price for its shares
- who receives information about the company and about transactions in its shares
The limits of that control
The company is not entirely free. It may not introduce new restrictions on which shareholders can sell. It must provide the mandatory core disclosures, plus whatever the individual operator's rules require. Each operator can also set its own criteria for which companies it accepts.
On the buying side the FCA lists sophisticated investors, high net worth individuals and institutional investors, among others. Employees of a PISCES company can buy shares in their employer or sell the ones they hold. Financial intermediaries place the orders and make sure retail investors get the protection of the FCA rules. That part has nothing to do with us: we do not approach investors and we do not broker shares.
When PISCES fits as a stepping stone
PISCES suits companies whose shareholders want to sell at some point, without the company taking on the ongoing obligations of a listing yet. The typical cases are founders and early shareholders who want to release part of their stake, or employees in share schemes who have had no route to a sale so far.
For a later listing a trading window brings a second benefit: the company practises disclosure, resolutions and deadlines under real conditions. Whether your next step is then the Main Market, AIM or Aquis depends on size and aims. What does not change is that registers, articles and board must fit each of those stages. Tidy up for PISCES today and you tidy up for the IPO at the same time.
Be clear about one thing: PISCES does not solve a funding problem. Whether anything trades, and at what price, is decided by buyers and sellers in each window.
What we prepare on the company side
The administrative work before and during a trading window that we take on:
- 1
Register of members
A complete, current register is the basis of any trade. We close gaps left by old allotments or transfers beforehand.
- 2
Articles and transfer rules
Pre-emption rights, consent requirements and share classes must match what the company wants to allow in the trading window.
- 3
Board resolutions
Joining PISCES, price limits, the circle of buyers and sign-off of the disclosures are resolved and minuted by the board.
- 4
Disclosures
We pull together the material for the core disclosures from the company's registers and resolutions and align it with the operator.
- 5
After the window
Transfers into the register, Companies House filings, updates to the details of persons with significant control. That is ongoing work for PLC Company Secretary.
Existing Enterprise Management Incentive and Company Share Option Plan options can be amended so that a sale through PISCES counts as an exercise event, without losing the tax advantages. This applies to options granted before 6 April 2028.
Common questions about PISCES
Does my company have to be a PLC?
PISCES is designed for private companies, and the FCA names no particular legal form. If you plan to list later, build the conversion into a PLC into your plans early anyway; see converting a Ltd into a PLC.
Can a company from outside the UK use PISCES?
Yes, the FCA admits companies located in the UK or overseas. The company law of the country where it is based still applies, though, and needs checking alongside.
Does PISCES replace an IPO?
No. It is a private market with occasional trading windows. A listing follows the rules of the Main Market, AIM or Aquis.
Sources: FCA: PISCES, platforms for trading private company shares; FCA: PISCES approval notice JP Jenkins Limited (PDF); GOV.UK: Tax implications for PISCES
