Can London’s Alternative Investment Market survive? Created as a lightly regulated junior exchange, it is failing to live up to its promise of fostering enterprise.
Scandals in the market have seen some AIM shares fall by more than 90% in the past year. Yet the market enjoys tax privileges that might draw in the unwary - investors least able to take risks. Without action, London's reputation risks being tarnished. It is time for regulators to reassess the AIM experiment.