Revolut boss: ‘not rational’ to choose UK listing over the US

The co-founder and chief executive of Revolut has said it is “not rational” to float its shares in the UK over the US, further reducing the prospect of the new government convincing the valuable start-up to list in London.
Nik Storonsky, 40, said “sooner or later” the London-based fintech company will want to consider floating on the public market to return money to shareholders, but he said share stamp duty and less liquidity reduced the appeal of London as a listing destination.
“The problem with the UK is, if you think about it versus the US, it is much more illiquid, and trading in the US is free. So I just don’t understand how the product which is being provided by the UK can compete with the product that is being provided by the US,” he told the 20VC podcast.
“It is less liquid so it is much worse compared to the US. Plus it is more expensive because you pay stamp duty. It is just not rational.”
Asked if he would, therefore, target a US listing, he added: “So unless I have a better product from UK, then yeah. If I get a better product from [the] UK, I will list in [the] UK.”
Revolut secured a valuation of $45 billion in August via a share sale by its employees and Mubadala, the Abu Dhabi sovereign investor, was among those to take a stake.
Founded in 2015, Revolut has expanded from a foreign exchange and money transfer business into a larger financial services group, whose services span share trading to savings products through its app.
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In July, it finally secured a banking licence from British regulators, which it had been seeking for three years, allowing it to start lending in the UK, its home market, and to directly challenge high street banks.
There have been claims that the time taken securing the banking licence “forced” Storonsky to move to Duabi. He said, though, that while he spent time in the emirate and had a large team there: “I don’t live permanently in Dubai.”
The Labour government and industry are seeking to revive UK capital markets through a series of reforms, including pension consolidation, and a taskforce led by Julia Hoggett, chief executive of the London Stock Exchange.
Peel Hunt, the City investment bank, said last month there had “been considerable progress in making the UK market ‘match-fit’” but in February said that while stamp duty on shares was “relatively low” at 0.5 per cent it is a “pernicious tax that is having a material impact on UK equity markets”.