AIM Rules for Nominated Advisers

AIM Rules for Nominated Advisers

Part One 
Nominated adviser eligibility criteria and approval process
Criteria for being a nominated adviser
1 General
The eligibility criteria are the requirements that an applicant must satisfy before the Exchange 
will consider approving it as a nominated adviser. The eligibility criteria are in addition to any 
legal or regulatory authorisation required by an applicant in any jurisdiction in which it operates. 
The Exchange is able to exercise discretion as to the application and interpretation of the 
eligibility criteria, as it thinks fit.
An applicant will not necessarily be approved even if it satisfies the eligibility criteria and there 
is no right to be granted, or retain, the status of a nominated adviser. When deciding whether or 
not an applicant should be approved as a nominated adviser, the Exchange's overriding 
consideration will be the preservation of the reputation and/or integrity of AIM (including the 
regulatory obligations of the Exchange as a Recognised Investment Exchange under the FSMA
Recognition Requirements). Accordingly, the Exchange reserves the right to decline an 
application or impose conditions on approval as the Exchange thinks fit in its discretion, 
notwithstanding that an applicant otherwise satisfies the eligibility criteria. 
2 Criteria
An entity seeking approval as a nominated adviser must:
— be a firm or company (individuals are not eligible);
— have practised corporate finance for at least the last two years;
— have acted on at least three Relevant Transactions during that two-year period;
— employ at least four Qualified Executives and in this regard the Exchange will take in to 
account the overall experience of the Qualified Executives on an individual basis and as a 
team; and
— evidence to the satisfaction of the Exchange that the applicant:
o is capable of being effectively supervised by the Exchange;
o has appropriate financial and non-financial resources; and
o is able to comply with rules 23 to 25.
The Exchange may, at its sole discretion, waive the requirement for the applicant firm to have a 
two-year track record and/or three Relevant Transactions where it determines that the applicant 
has highly experienced Qualified Executives and pursuant to rule 27(b) the Exchange may 
impose restrictions or limitations on the services a firm can provide at the time of granting a 
nominated adviser’s approval or subsequently.
The requirement to practise corporate finance means that the entity (or in some cases a separate 
division of it) should have practised as its principal business the provision of corporate finance 
advice, such as advising on public market fundraisings. This should be distinguished from the 
provision of legal advice or accounting services in relation to corporate finance transactions, 
which would not qualify for the purposes of this rule. 
3 Overriding principle of the preservation of the reputation and/or integrity of AIM
The Exchange will consider all of the circumstances, including whether the approval of an 
applicant or a Qualified Executive might be detrimental to the reputation and/or integrity of AIM.

In considering whether an applicant might be detrimental to the reputation and/or integrity of AIM, 
the Exchange will examine matters including:
— whether the applicant is appropriately authorised and regulated and the applicant's standing 
with its regulators; 
— the applicant's general reputation and financial standing; 
— whether the applicant or its executives are, and/or have in the past been, the subject of any 
investigation, disciplinary action, criminal proceedings, conviction or finding of breaches of 
regulatory duties (including the subject-matter and seriousness of such matters); and 
— insofar as is relevant, the commercial and regulatory performance of its clients to whom it 
has given corporate finance advice.
Even if an applicant otherwise meets the other eligibility criteria, if the Exchange considers that 
an applicant, any shareholder of an applicant, or any officer of the applicant might be detrimental 
to the reputation and/or integrity of AIM, this is likely to be treated as a basis for declining the 
application.
4 Qualified Executives
A Qualified Executive is an employee of an applicant (or nominated adviser in relation to 
continuing eligibility), who can demonstrate a sound understanding of the UK corporate finance 
market and AIM in particular, and who satisfies one of the following: 
— in respect of a person applying to be approved as a Qualified Executive has acted in a 
corporate finance advisory role, for at least the last three years and who has acted in a lead 
corporate finance role on at least three Relevant Transactions in that three-year period; or
— in respect of an existing Qualified Executive who was approved as a Qualified Executive
within the last five years, and has been a Qualified Executive on a continuous basis within 
that period, has acted in a lead corporate finance role on at least three Relevant 
Transactions within the last five years; or
— in respect of an existing Qualified Executive who has been approved as a Qualified 
Executive for five or more years on a continuous basis, has acted in a lead corporate 
finance role on at least one Relevant Transaction in the last five-year period and can 
demonstrate to the satisfaction of the Exchange that they are involved in an active capacity
in the provision of corporate finance advisory work, and in relation to AIM in particular.
An individual will not be considered for approval as a Qualified Executive by the Exchange (or 
be eligible to be a Qualified Executive on a continuing basis) where that person has been 
subject to disciplinary action or similar by a regulator or law enforcement agency in the context of 
financial services, corporate finance or similar or has any unspent convictions in relation to 
indictable offences.
As part of the Qualified Executive approval process, the Exchange reserves the right to 
conduct interviews in order to assess the competence and suitability of the individual. If, as a 
result of any interview which it conducts, the Exchange considers that the individual has an 
inadequate understanding of corporate finance, market practice, the legal or regulatory 
framework for corporate finance or these rules and the AIM Rules for Companies, it will not 
approve the individual as a Qualified Executive. Accordingly, the Exchange reserves the right 
to decline an application for Qualified Executive status notwithstanding that an individual 
otherwise meets the requirements set out in this rule.
Qualified Executive status is a designation which is granted to a nominated adviser firm 
denoting those individuals within the firm who are authorised by the Exchange to lead AIM 
Rules for Companies advice for that nominated adviser. Accordingly, Qualified Executive
status is not an individual status or qualification. An application by a nominated adviser to 
denote an employee with Qualified Executive status will be considered in the wider context of 
the firm’s obligations under rules 23 and 24. A nominated adviser is responsible for the 
conduct of a Qualified Executive in the respect of its obligations and responsibilities as a 
nominated adviser.

AIM Rules for Nominated Advisers