London’s beleaguered stock market is losing its grip on a “fabulous” fintech listing and others may follow.
Wise announced on Thursday that it’s planning to list its shares in the U.S. The money transfer firm said it will maintain a secondary listing on the London Stock Exchange, while the U.S. will become its primary listing. The move is aimed at attracting more investment and boosting the firm’s growth.
The fintech’s billionaire cofounder and CEO, Kristo Kaarmann, said the listing move would help “drive greater awareness of Wise in the U.S., the biggest market opportunity in the world” for its products, and it would also enable greater access to the “world’s deepest and most liquid capital market.”
“A dual listing would also enable us to continue serving our U.K.-based owners effectively, as part of our ongoing commitment to the U.K. The U.K. is home to some of the best talent in the world in financial services and technology, and we will continue to invest in our presence here to fuel our U.K. and global growth.”
A Treasury spokesperson said, “Wise has said it will continue to invest in the U.K., which is home to some of the world’s best talent in financial services.
“The U.K. is Europe’s leading hub for investment and, through overhauling listing rules and creating a new stock exchange for private companies, we are driving reform to make the U.K. the best place for businesses to start, scale and list.”
Shadow business secretary Andrew Griffith swiftly responded to the news, describing Wise as a “fabulous U.K. fintech,” while blaming the Labour government for its decision to shift its listing.
“Combined with Revolut’s Paris move and millionaires fleeing London this is a devastating verdict on the U.K. socialist government’s culture war against wealth creators,” Griffith said in a post on X.”
Last month, Revolut said it would open a new office in Paris as part of its expansion across western Europe that will see it invest $1.1 billion over the next three years and create 200 new jobs in the French capital.
Although Revolut said its global headquarters would remain in London, billionaire cofounder and CEO Nik Storonsky has said previously that it’s “just not rational” to list in London under the current conditions.
Last month, Emma Reynolds, economic secretary to the Treasury, and Julia Hoggett, CEO of the London Stock Exchange, had met with executives from a number of firms, including ClearScore, Monzo, OakNorth and Revolut, in the hopes of convincing them to list in London, according to a Sky News report.
The Treasury said it doesn’t comment on speculation around meetings, and the London Stock Exchange did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Nonetheless, today’s announcement is a clear indication that the government’s efforts to revitalize the U.K.’s capital markets are not having their intended impact. London’s stock market has seen a string of companies shift their listings to the U.S. in recent years, including sports betting giant Flutter and building materials company CRH. It also faied to land the initial public offering of Cambridge-based chip designer Arm Holdings, raising doubts as to whether London can host major tech listings.
Wise, formerly known as TransferWise, was the London Stock Exchange’s biggest ever tech listing when it went public in 2021. It currently has a market value of around £11 billion ($15 billion).
It was founded by the Estonian entrepreneurs Kaarmann and Taavet Hinrikus in 2011 with the aim of offering faster and cheaper cross-border transfers. For the financial year ending March 31, Wise said its cross-border volumes had risen to £145.2 billion, a 23% increase from a year earlier. And the fintech’s pre-tax profit had jumped 17% to £565 million.
Kaarman contends that his firm’s new payments infrastructure is faster, cheaper, and more reliable than the traditional correspondent networks. “We’re well on our way to handle trillions, not just billions, and become ‘the’ global network for the world’s money,” he said.