The UK’s Financial Behavior Authority (FCA) said this week that it had approved the London Stock Exchange (LSE) as the first whale operator, a new type of private stock market designed to expand access to fast -growing companies.
The whale, or the private intermittent securities system and the capital exchange system, will allow buyers and sellers to shares in private trading companies on an intermittent basis.
It is the first private market in the world and will initially operate within the FCA Financial Infrastructure Fund before completing a permanent system in 2030.
Simon Walls, the FCA CEO, said that the approval was “a major landmark in our leadership to enhance growth and open capital investment,” adding that it will help “a competitive market that allows the investor the greatest access to exciting growth companies.”
Julia Hogit, CEO of LSE, welcomed her approval, describing it as an “important step towards launching the private stock market later this year.”
She added that the initiative will support companies “at all stages of their growth” by enhancing the continuity between private and public markets.
Emma Reynolds, Economy Secretary of the Treasury, said that development showed the government, organizers and industry that work together to strengthen capital markets in the United Kingdom.
She said: “This government is committed to working with organizers and businesses to enhance our capital market offer, support economic growth, and put more money in workers pockets as part of our plan for change.”