Wise’s Planned Move to US Listing Draws Ire From Co-Founder

Wise’s decision to shift its primary listing from London to America is drawing criticism.

As Bloomberg News reported Wednesday (July 23), both proxy advisory firm Glass Lewis & Co. and Wise Co-founder Taavet Hinrikus have come out against the move.

According to the report, Glass Lewis is still in support of Wise’s idea, but has concerns that an upcoming vote on the plan also requires shareholders to OK an extension of the dual-class shareholder structure introduced when Wise listed in 2021. If Wise were to remain in the U.K., that structure would sunset in 2026.

“In this case, we are concerned by the extension of the sunset provision,” Glass Lewis said in the report dated July 22, per Bloomberg. “Glass Lewis believes multi-class share structures with unequal voting rights are typically not in the best interests of common shareholders.”

Wise announced in June its intention to move its primary listing from the London Stock Exchange (LSE) to an exchange in the U.S. while keeping a secondary listing on the LSE.

This dual listing would bring “substantial strategic and capital market benefits” to the company and its owners, Wise Co-founder and CEO Kristo Käärmann said in the financial year results.

“These include helping us drive greater awareness of Wise in the U.S., the biggest market opportunity in the world for our products today, and enabling better access to the world’s deepest and most liquid capital market,” Käärmann said.

“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.”

But according to Bloomberg, an investment vehicle owned by Hinrikus urged fellow shareholders to vote down the proposal, contending the move lacks transparency about important changes to governance.

The report adds that another proxy advisory firm, PIRC, is lobbying shareholders to vote against the proposal as well, pointing to concerns that they will have fewer protections in the U.S.

Wise last week released quarterly earnings showing a 24% year-over-year increase in cross-border payments volume and 17% increase in active customers as the company continued to add new partnerships.

Days earlier, Wise had announced a collaboration with UniCredit, planning to offer international payments services to UniCredit customers in Italy before expanding to other countries.