Representation

Improving the AIM Market

Our long-running campaign to improve the AIM market, and our response to the London Stock Exchange Group’s 2025 consultation on its future.

The campaign

A better AIM for individual investors

In June 2016 we launched a campaign to improve the AIM stock market, following widespread criticism of the way it operates and the quality of companies that have listed on it, with many subsequently delisting as a result. We set out specific suggestions for reform: Improving AIM.

In early 2025 we responded to a consultation by the London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG) on initiatives to improve and enhance the AIM market, followed by a meeting to flesh out our comments.

Our consultation response

Six priorities for reform

01

Investor confidence & market integrity

  • Calls for stronger enforcement of AIM rules, especially around misleading RNS disclosures and NOMAD accountability.
  • Criticises the conflicted role of NOMADs, especially in smaller companies, and proposes independent regulatory oversight.
  • Opposes removing AIM Rule 13 protections for director remuneration, calling it a “window on the soul” of company ethics.
02

Retail investor empowerment

  • Advocates for greater individual investor participation to boost liquidity and free float.
  • Supports equity ownership for non-executive directors, with enforceable sunset clauses on dual-class shares.
  • Urges restoration of shareholder rights for nominee holders, especially in digitalisation reforms.
03

Fiscal incentives & tax reform

  • Criticises the halving of Business Property Relief (BPR) as counterproductive to AIM investment.
  • Recommends:
    • Increasing VCT limits
    • Reversing the 2016 age limits for VCTs
    • Eliminating double taxation on pension pots
    • Abolishing stamp duty on share transactions
04

Liquidity & market structure

  • Proposes maximum spread and minimum quote size rules for AIM market makers.
  • Supports index inclusion for larger AIM constituents.
  • Warns against UK market fragmentation (AIM, Aquis, Cboe, Turquoise) and the liquidity drain from dark pools and CFDs.
05

Admission document reform

  • Supports incorporation by reference, with strict retention of linked documents.
  • Opposes boilerplate-heavy templates, and prefers best-practice examples.
  • Endorses simplified working-capital disclosures for companies with three years of clean audited accounts.
06

Governance & regulation

  • Endorses the QCA Code for smaller companies, and rejects further governance code options as unnecessary.
  • Supports a prescribed list of accounting standards (e.g. EU IFRS, US GAAP, Canadian GAAP) based on IAS equivalence.
  • Opposes removing shareholder votes on acquisitions that materially alter risk or control, even if not a fundamental change.
The big picture

A roadmap for revitalising UK capital markets

These responses are underpinned by ShareSoc’s wider roadmap, five pillars for a healthier market for individual investors.

Pillar Initiatives
Regulation & Protection FCA reform, faster enforcement, stronger investor compensation
Tax & Incentives Abolish stamp duty, simplify ISAs, fix pension taxation
Governance & Stewardship Restore nominee rights, improve cost transparency
Market Competitiveness Implement the Austin Review, unlock secondary raises for retail
Pro-Investment Culture Embed financial education, promote business as a public good
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