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The Treasury intends to emphasise London’s appeal in planned talks with Revolut as Britain’s most valuable fintech continues to favour a potential New York listing after securing a critical UK banking licence.
City minister Tulip Siddiq is expected to meet Revolut in the autumn as part of a series of one-to-one talks with businesses, according to the Treasury.
Topics are likely to include Revolut’s possible listing plans among wider issues related to financial services and the City, one person close to the ministry added.
The London-headquartered fintech, which is on track to fetch a valuation of about $45bn, continues to prioritise a potential float on the Nasdaq market in the US instead of London, said one person with direct knowledge of the assessment.
The company was given a boost last month when it received a UK banking licence after a drawn-out three-year process with the regulators.
The banking permit, which is subject to temporary restrictions, allows Revolut to hold deposits directly and therefore increase lending in the UK. It should also boost its chances of securing a licence in the US market.
Revolut declined to comment.
While the prospect of a listing could still be a couple of years away, a move to float in the US would be a blow to London, which has suffered from a string of companies relisting in New York.
Other businesses including Cambridge-based chipmaker Arm have opted to float in the US in an attempt to attract a higher valuation.
Siddiq said earlier this year ahead of the July election that Labour would push the Financial Conduct Authority to “tear down the barriers to competitiveness and growth” if elected.
Revolut co-founders Nikolay Storonsky and Vlad Yatsenko told media last year, when the fintech was still in regulatory limbo, that they would prefer to keep the company in private hands but that in the event of a flotation they would be likely to choose the Nasdaq.
The London stock exchange “is much less liquid so I just don’t see the point”, said Storonsky at the time.
But Revolut executives have more recently left the door open to a London IPO and endorsed the City’s competitiveness as a business hub.
Chair Martin Gilbert, before getting the banking licence last month, saluted reforms to the UK’s listing regime. They would allow “founder-led companies like Revolut to list here rather than just have no choice,” he told the FT.
“It would definitely help if people knew who [Revolut] was in the US, specifically long-only investors, as opposed to private equity,” one Revolut investor said this week. “But it’s not vital.”
Revolut started out as a digital payments and money transfer app in Britain before expanding globally and broadening its services, such as cryptocurrency trading.
The company is selling up to $500mn worth of existing shares at a $45bn valuation, in a deal that would make it one of the UK’s most valuable banks.
The banking license follows a charm offensive by Revolut towards British politicians.
UK chief executive Francesca Carlesi, who joined the fintech last year, attended a Labour party event at which Sir Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves — now prime minister and chancellor respectively — spoke with executives about their plans for the economy and regulation.
The fintech also co-sponsored the opening reception at the Labour party’s annual conference last year.
Revolut’s bank licence application was stalled by a series of problems including its auditors warning that they could not fully verify the provenance of its revenues in delayed 2021 accounts and the departure of key executives.
Additional reporting from Michael O’Dwyer, Tim Bradshaw and George Parker