London Stock Exchange wins first approval for private share platform

LONDON (Reuters) -The London Stock Exchange has become the first company to win regulatory approval to operate a new platform allowing investors to trade shares in private companies, Britain's financial watchdog said on Tuesday.

The Financial Conduct Authority said the approval of the LSE as an operator of a Private Intermittent Securities and Capital Exchange System (PISCES) platform marked a "major milestone" in an effort to boost growth and unlock capital markets.

Britain set out draft rules last year to allow trading in private companies on regulated exchanges in the hope of stemming delistings and outflows from UK capital markets and offering private firms a quicker route to new investors.

The LSE plans to launch its private securities market later this year. The PISCES design will be delivered initially through a "sandbox", which allows the FCA to test the design before a permanent regime is finalised in 2030.

Other markets offer similar regulated platforms. Rival exchange Nasdaq in New York has long had a private market segment.

PISCES could help small companies with limited experience of capital markets get onto the radar of cash-rich and supportive investors without a full-scale initial public offering.

But the concept has proven a tough sell with some market participants concerned it could cannibalise companies that would have otherwise sought market listings. Bankers told Reuters earlier this year they feared hits to revenue and ultimately being bypassed in a booming market for private capital.

Simon Walls, FCA executive director of markets, said the approval of the first PISCES operator in Britain heralded the start of a competitive market that offered greater investor access to growth companies.

"This new market demonstrates our commitment to the creation of a genuine funding continuum from the private to public markets so that businesses in the UK and around the world can be effectively supported across all stages of their growth," said LSE Chief Executive Julia Hoggett.

(Reporting by DhanushVignesh Babu in Bengaluru and Kirstin Ridley in London; Editing by Rashmi Aich, Kirsten Donovan)