JP Morgan is pushing to become a registered auction agent on the London Stock Exchange’s Pisces market, signalling growing institutional confidence in the private bourse.
The US bank is seeking regulatory approval to join Bank of America and Rothschild in brokering deals on the London Stock Exchange’s Private Securities Market, according to sources familiar with the matter.
Pisces, the Private Intermittent Securities and Capital Exchange System, was introduced by the Financial Conduct Authority last year to allow private companies to sell shares through structured auctions resembling public markets.
The framework was drawn up by the London Stock Exchange and the previous Conservative government, designed to let investors and employees cash in shares without the complexity of a full public listing.
Several private companies have since launched their own versions of the market, including the London Stock Exchange itself and JP Jenkins, broadening the platform’s reach.
JP Morgan’s interest comes after a series of notable deals on the platform involving high-growth start-ups over recent months, adding fresh credibility to the fledgling exchange.
Wayve, the AI car firm, allowed staff to sell around $85m of shares on the market in July, marking the first major employee share sale on the platform.
Savings fintech Moneybox followed with a £45m staff share sale through the exchange later that month, a transaction that valued the company at £800m.
David Schwimmer, the boss of LSEG, the parent company of the London Stock Exchange, told investors in July there was “growing momentum” behind the market and it was “opening up significant new market opportunities” for the group.
The summer deals came after a sluggish start for the Pisces framework, which attracted criticism from some advisers who questioned its overall usefulness for the market.
Several people have raised concerns that Pisces could undermine the UK’s efforts to revive its initial public offering pipeline by allowing companies to remain private for longer.
The London Stock Exchange has hosted just one sizeable IPO this year, for Uzbek national investment fund UzNIF, which raised $600m in a dual listing in Tashkent and London in May.
JP Morgan declined to comment, and the London Stock Exchange also declined to comment on the matter.