13th Nov 2024 14:36
(Alliance News) - The UK government is set to lay out its plans this week for a regulated stock exchange for private companies in a bid to support UK equity markets, City AM reported on Wednesday.
Chancellor Rachel Reeves will address the proposals for the private intermittent securities and capital exchange system, or Pisces, as part of her maiden Mansion House speech on Thursday, just two weeks after delivering her autumn statement, according to the newspaper.
Sources from the Treasury told City AM that the chancellor will outline proposals to legislate in summer next year for Pisces, a regulated exchange permitting investors to trade shares in private firms.
The Pisces proposal was initially developed under the previous Tory government, with a consultation in April this year noting that investors "will gain better access to exciting companies while also benefiting from greater transparency and efficiency than available in private markets".
The new Labour government has since made reference to the exchange, with the autumn statement noting the government's commitment to its deliverance, adding that: "Pisces transactions will be exempt from stamp duty and stamp duty reserve tax."
The budget statement further stated: "The exemption will be introduced to a similar timeline to the legislation establishing the Pisces regulatory framework."
These developments designed to boost the pipeline of initial public offerings in the UK come amid a dearth of IPO's on the London Stock Exchange and a trend of firms choosing to list in the US instead.
Some companies that have de-listed from the London Main Market and AIM recently have chosen to be traded on JP Jenkins. This is a private trading platform for the shares of unlisted companies, with shares traded on a matched bargain basis.
By Christopher Ward, Alliance News reporter
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