SVM110070 – Tax Advantaged Share Schemes: AIM Shares

Although you may, in most cases, accept AIM dealings as reliable indicators of market value, approved scheme rules will still require market value to be agreed with SAV. Valuers should agree with the agent a basis for fixing the price at the valuation date, by reference to the Financial Times (FT), e.g.

• If the valuation date = day before invitation: use the price shown in the FT published on the date of invitation
• If the valuation date = invitation date: again use the price shown in the FT published on the date of invitation itself, so that the company can put the price in the invitation.

Such an agreement is usually expressed to continue while the company is listed on AIM and means that no prior reference to SAV is then needed. The Employee Shares and Securities Unit (ESSU) accept that such an agreement is consistent with scheme rules which require advance agreement of market value with SAV.

A similar approach may be taken for EMI cases, by using the closing price for the day before grant i.e. the price in the Financial Times on the day of grant.

As indicated at SVM110110, the 60 day concession does not apply to shares traded on AIM, NASDAQ’s third tier or any other similar secondary exchange.