Alternative Investment Market

A market created for small, young and growing companies, operated by the London Stock Exchange as a regulated market of a Recognised Investment Exchange (RIE) and set up in June 1995. It replaced the Unlisted Securities Market (USM). The market provides an opportunity for companies to raise capital for expansion, a trading facility and a way of establishing a market value for their shares. The admission criteria for AIM are less stringent than for the main market.