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UK Startups and Innovation
13APR

PISCES runs first pre-IPO trading events

2 min read
17:59UTC

The FCA sandbox for private company share trading completed its first live windows in March. For the first time, UK startup equity can be bought and sold before IPO.

← Back to State capital floods in, seed money drainsJump to analysis ↓
TechnologyDeveloping
Key takeaway

UK startup equity can now be traded before IPO for the first time, under an FCA sandbox.

PISCES (the Private Intermittent Securities and Capital Exchange System) completed its first live trading events in March 2026⁠1. JP Jenkins ran a trading window from 18 to 24 March; the London Stock Exchange's Private Securities Market also completed a first event. The Financial Conduct Authority sandbox that governs PISCES runs until 2030.

PISCES allows intermittent trading of shares in private companies, creating a secondary market for pre-IPO startup equity without requiring a public listing. UK startup employees holding options have historically waited seven to ten years for an exit event. Early-stage investors in UK companies face the same illiquidity. Both groups have had strong incentives to push for US listings, where secondary markets and pre-IPO liquidity mechanisms are established.

The sandbox is early. Two operators are approved; trading windows are intermittent, not continuous. Volume and price discovery will determine whether PISCES becomes a functioning market or remains a regulatory experiment. If it works, it could reduce the pressure for UK high-growth companies to list in New York simply to provide their investors and employees with liquidity.

Deep Analysis

In plain English

PISCES stands for Private Intermittent Securities and Capital Exchange System. It is a new type of trading market that allows investors to buy and sell shares in private companies (companies that are not yet listed on a stock exchange) at specific trading windows. Before PISCES, if you invested early in a successful UK startup, your money was locked in until the company either listed on a stock exchange or was acquired. PISCES creates a way to get some of your money out while the company is still private. For founders, it means employees who hold shares can sell some before an IPO, reducing the pressure to list early or accept an acquisition offer.

What could happen next?
  • Opportunity

    UK startup employees holding equity options gain a new pre-IPO liquidity option, potentially reducing talent departure driven by illiquid equity packages.

  • Whether PISCES secondary liquidity will reduce UK founders' preference for US listings remains to be demonstrated; the sandbox runs until 2030 before any regulatory permanence decision.

Sources:FCA
Mentions:PISCES →JP Jenkins →London Stock Exchange →Financial Conduct Authority →France →Nasdaq →New York →
First Reported In

Update #1 · State capital floods in, seed money drains

FCA· 13 Apr 2026
Read original →
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