Part 6Venture capital trusts

Chapter 4Qualifying holdings

The requirements

295The unquoted status requirement

1

The requirement of this section is that the relevant company must be an unquoted company.

2

In this section “unquoted company” means a company none of whose shares, stocks, debentures or other securities are marketed to the general public.

3

For the purposes of subsection (2), shares, stocks, debentures or other securities are marketed to the general public if they are—

a

listed on F1a recognised stock exchange,

b

listed on a designated exchange in a country outside the United Kingdom, or

c

dealt in F2... outside the United Kingdom by such means as may be designated.

4

In subsection (3)(b) and (c) “designated” means designated by an order made by the Commissioners for Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs for the purposes of that provision.

5

An order made for the purposes of subsection (3)(b) may designate an exchange by name, or by reference to any class or description of exchanges, including a class or description framed by reference to any authority or approval given in a country outside the United Kingdom.

6

If—

a

any shares in or securities of a company are included in the qualifying holdings of the investing company, and

b

that company ceases to be an unquoted company at any time while the investing company is approved as a VCT,

the requirements of this section are to be treated, in relation to shares or securities acquired before that time, as continuing to be met for a period of 5 years after that time.