British finance minister Jeremy Hunt is expected to set out plans in next week’s budget for a regime to allow the country’s private companies to have their shares bought and sold on exchanges, the Financial Times reported on Saturday, citing an official.
The Treasury is planning to start a consultation on Wednesday on the regulation of the initiative, the report said, adding that the initiative would give investors an opportunity to sell down part of their stakes in private companies on a limited number of days each year.
The Private Intermittent Securities and Capital Exchange System (Pisces) would act as a crossover between public and private markets allowing for some liquidity in the shares of private companies without the regulatory burden of a public listing, according to the FT report.
Companies would not be allowed to raise new capital through Pisces, the report said, adding that retail investors were not expected to be permitted to buy shares using the system.
Institutions and, if a company agrees, employees who owned shares in the business they work for would be allowed to trade via the system, the FT report said.
The UK Treasury did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the report.
UK’s Finance Ministry has been wanting to help unlisted companies grow in the hope they will go public to boost the UK capital market as London battles New York, and the EU since Brexit, for listings.
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