Revolut billionaire says UK stock market is ‘much worse’ than America’s

Revolut co-founder and CEO Nik Storonsky has reiterated his preference for an IPO in the US, saying that going public in London is “simply not rational” under current conditions.

Speaking on the 20VC podcast, Storonsky said the London stock market was less attractive as a trading venue due to liquidity and costs.

“The problem with the UK – if you think about the UK compared to the US – is that the US is much more liquid and trading in the US is free,” Storonsky said in an interview with 20VC founder Harry Stebbings.

“If you look at trading in the UK, you always pay stamp duty, which is 0.5%. So I just don’t understand how the product offered by the UK can compete with the product offered by the US. It’s less liquid, so it’s much worse compared to the US, and it’s a lot more expensive because you pay stamp duty. So it’s just not rational.”

Storonsky pointed out that Revolut already operates like a public company, as banks are required to have even stricter controls than listed companies. However, he also pointed out that there is no reason for his fintech company to rush into an IPO.

He said Revolut would likely go public “sooner or later” to give its venture capital investors the opportunity to sell their shares in a more liquid market.

Revolut was recently valued at $45 billion through a secondary stock sale that allowed employees and early investors to cash in their shares. But the company’s rapid growth and ambitious expansion plans have fueled speculation about what is expected to be a blockbuster IPO.

If Britain’s most valuable fintech company chooses the US, it would be a major blow to the London market, where numerous companies have shifted their listings to other markets in recent years. The government is trying to reform the financial sector to make the London stock market more attractive, but the reforms adopted so far have met with a mixed response.

Stamp duty on share trading has long been a point of contention in the UK. Instead of paying a 0.5% tax to trade UK-listed stocks, investors can move their funds to low- or no-cost markets such as the US

On Monday, the new Lord Mayor of the City of London, Alastair King, spoke out on the issue with his own call for action.

King said: “We should look again at the stamp duty that is levied on trading in UK shares.” It cannot logically be right that we currently pay no tax on the purchase of international vehicles such as Tesla, but do pay taxes on investments in a British brand like Aston Martin will be taxed.”

“Realigning this misalignment would provide a boost to domestic companies looking to expand,” King continued, “companies that are currently too often heavily reliant on US funds, leading even more of them to move outside the UK be noted.” ”