Key facts
- JP Morgan is seeking approval to act as a registered auction agent on the London Stock Exchange's Pisces market.
- Pisces is a market designed for private companies to conduct structured share auctions.
- The market aims to allow investors and employees to sell shares without a full public listing.
- Recent deals on Pisces include Wayve's $85m employee share sale and Moneybox's £45m sale.
- Some critics worry Pisces may delay companies from pursuing traditional IPOs.
JP Morgan is reportedly seeking approval to operate as a registered auction agent on the London Stock Exchange's Pisces market, a platform designed for private companies to conduct structured share auctions. This move, if approved, would allow the US bank to broker deals on the market, joining entities like Bank of America and Rothschild. The Pisces market, introduced by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) last year, aims to provide a mechanism for investors and employees of private companies to trade shares without the complexities of a public listing.
The platform has seen recent activity, including an $85 million employee share sale by AI car firm Wayve in July and a £45 million staff share sale by savings fintech Moneybox later that month, which valued the company at £800 million. David Schwimmer, CEO of the London Stock Exchange Group, has indicated growing momentum behind the market, describing it as "opening up significant new market opportunities."
However, the Pisces framework has faced criticism. Some advisors have questioned its utility, and concerns have been raised that it could potentially undermine efforts to revive the UK's initial public offering (IPO) pipeline by encouraging companies to remain private for longer. The London Stock Exchange has only hosted one substantial IPO this year, that of the Uzbek national investment fund, UzNIF, which raised $600 million in May.