Unquoted Shares

Shares in some companies, often smaller ones, are not traded on any stock exchange. Companies are not quoted (or listed) because either:

• they do not wish to be and prefer to run their businesses in relative privacy, or
• they do not meet the listing requirements, such as minimum market capitalisation. In other words they are too small to join a stockmarket.

For people interested there are two Government schemes, the 'Enterprise Investment Scheme' and 'Venture Capital Trusts' which allow investors to put money into unquoted companies while benefiting from various tax breaks.

Unquoted investments, because of their nature, can be volatile investments and should be treated with caution.

See Also:

Online share dealing service Stockmarket Centre

Last Updated: June 2007 © Moneyextra.com

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