Sharetech platform Vestd has officially been granted approval by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) to operate the Private Intermittent Securities and Capital Exchange System (PISCES).
The approval marks a significant expansion for Vestd, which joins an elite group of operators—including the London Stock Exchange (LSE) and JP Jenkins—authorized to run the UK’s newest innovative trading framework.
Vestd’s entry introduces a unique model to the PISCES ecosystem: it is the first platform designed to operate without the need for financial intermediaries. By allowing investors to work directly with the operator, Vestd intends to drastically reduce transactional friction and lower costs. Notably, the platform will not charge fees to buyers, a move aimed at simplifying the investment process for a broader range of participants.
Maturing the intermittent trading market
The PISCES framework was established by the FCA in June 2025 to allow private companies to trade shares on an intermittent basis, providing much-needed liquidity without the full regulatory burden of a public listing. The market has seen rapid evolution recently; following the milestone in March 2026 where QPLAY became the first issuer to see its shares traded under the framework, Vestd’s approval signals that the new market is entering a phase of sustained maturity.
By opening up a new class of investment opportunities in UK businesses that were historically difficult to access, the PISCES venue offers a vital liquidity release valve for founders, early-stage investors, and employees who may have previously seen their wealth locked in private equity for years.
A unified equity lifecycle
For Vestd, the PISCES approval represents the final piece of a unified equity management puzzle. The platform already supports businesses through company incorporation, employee share schemes, and cap table management. With the addition of a regulated liquidity venue, Vestd can now manage a company’s entire equity lifecycle on a single platform.
Yaroslav Kinebas, market infrastructure lead at Vestd, described the approval as a “game-changer” for the UK ecosystem. “PISCES opens up a new class of investment opportunities in UK businesses which were previously difficult to access,” Kinebas stated. “Vestd’s PISCES platform means a business can manage its entire equity lifecycle—from company incorporation and employee schemes to cap table management and, eventually, regulated liquidity events—all on a single platform.”
Kinebas added that the platform’s end-to-end solution now extends to Special Purpose Vehicles (SPVs) and portfolio management for investors. As the firm prepares to publish its full rules for the venue, investors are already being invited to register their interest, while companies have begun preparing their cap tables and employee share schemes in anticipation of upcoming liquidity events.
