Alternative Investment Market
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The Alternative Investments Market (AIM) is a sub-market of the London Stock Exchange, allowing smaller companies to float shares with a more flexible regulatory system than is applicable to the Main Market. The AIM was launched in 1995 and has raised almost £24 billion for more than 2,200 companies. Flexibility is provided by less regulation and no requirements for capitalization or number of shares issued. Some companies have since moved on to join the Main Market, although in the last few years, significantly more companies transferred from the Main Market to the AIM (The AIM has significant tax advantages for investors, as well as less regulatory burden for the companies themselves). In 2005, 40 companies moved directly from the Main Market to the AIM, while only two companies moved from the AIM to the Main Market.
The AIM has also started to become an international exchange, often due to its low-regulatory burden, especially in relation to the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (which imposes regulatory costs on companies listed in the United States, including those without any operations). As of December 2005 over 270 foreign companies had been admitted to the Alternative Investments Market.
The independent FTSE Group maintains three indices for measuring the AIM, which are the FTSE AIM UK 50 Index, FTSE AIM 100 Index, and FTSE AIM All-Share Index.
[edit] See also
- Growth Enterprise Market of Hong Kong
- Nominated Adviser (NOMAD)
