UK Regulators Launch PISCES – Revolutionizing Private Share Markets in 2025
London shakes up illiquid markets with blockchain-esque private share platform.
The Financial Conduct Authority just dropped a bombshell—PISCES (Private Intermittent Securities and Capital Exchange System) goes live Q3 2025. Finally, a solution for pre-IPO equity that doesn''t move at glacial banking speeds.
How it works: Digital settlement meets traditional compliance
PISCES bypasses legacy clearing systems with distributed ledger tech—though regulators insist it''s ''not crypto.'' Trades settle in hours instead of weeks, while maintaining KYC/AML rails that''d make any compliance officer weep with joy.
Early adopters include:
- Unicorn employees seeking liquidity
- Family offices hungry for pre-IPO deals
- VCs who''d rather not wait a decade for exits
The cynical take: After failing to tame crypto, UK regulators built their own permissioned version—complete with all the bureaucracy that makes traditional finance so... special.
One thing''s certain: private markets will never be the same. Whether that''s good news depends on how much you enjoy watching dinosaurs learn to code.
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This initiative aims to solve a key problem: illiquidity for early investors and employees in startups that delay going public. PISCES will create time-limited trading windows, offering a path for these stakeholders to sell equity while allowing companies control over share pricing and buyers. Furthermore, the FCA plans to ease sustainability-related disclosures and adjust rules so only shareholders holding 25% or more are publicly identified.
PISCES will launch as a regulatory sandbox for five years, allowing operators to innovate under FCA supervision. This MOVE is part of the FCA’s broader strategy to boost the UK’s market growth and competitiveness, hailed by officials as a “collaborative success.”
In a separate but related move, the FCA is proposing to eliminate mandatory public “Assessment of Value” (AoV) reporting for fund managers. This change, affecting nearly 150 firms and thousands of funds, aims to reduce costs and paperwork. The FCA believes that its existing Consumer Duty obligations already cover the intent of AoV rules, making separate public reports redundant and benefiting investors by allowing managers to focus on value delivery.
