The international money transfer platform Wise is consulting with shareholders on moves that could enable it to join the FTSE 100, the index of UK-listed blue chip companies.
The company said it would need to amend parts of its articles of association and also get approval from the Financial Conduct Authority to join a new listing category seen as a stepping stone to inclusion in FTSE Russell indices.
It said it was “extensively consulting with shareholders on the optimal listing arrangements” and planned to come to a decision “in the coming weeks”.
Weighing in with a market value of £9.7 billion, London-based Wise would be an automatic candidate for inclusion in the FTSE 100 if it passed the tests used by FTSE Russell.
One sticking point, however, might be the two-tier share structure that gives Kristo Kaarmann, the co-founder and chief executive, and other early investors in the company nine times as many votes per share as more recent shareholders.
Wise is due to convert all these vote-heavy B-shares into ordinary A-shares in July 2026, although Kaarmann has suggested he might try to extend the existing set-up, which would maintain his personal grip on the company. He owns 18.1 per cent of the economic interest in Wise but 40.75 per cent of the votes.
Kaarmann was named by HM Revenue and Customs as a deliberate tax defaulter in 2021 after he was late paying a personal tax bill. An investigation by the Financial Conduct Authority into his suitability to head a major finance company closed last October with a £350,000 fine but no further action.
Changes to the listing rules last year abolished the old system of premium and standard listings and introduced a single new bracket of “Equity Shares (Commercial Companies)”, which Wise would need to join to be eligible for inclusion in the FTSE Russell indices.
Recently, Uxbridge-based Coca-Cola Europacific Partners, a bottler of the fizzy drink in 31 countries, was admitted to the FTSE 100 after joining that listing category.
FTSE 100 membership confers prestige and credibility on companies and also makes them mandatory buys for index-tracking funds. More than $500 billion of funds track the FTSE 100 directly or use it as a benchmark.
Wise’s other shareholders apart from Kaarmann include Baillie Gifford, Jupiter Fund Management and the US technology investment house Andreessen Horowitz. The chairman is David Wells, former finance chief at Netflix.
During its capital markets day presentation on Thursday, Wise said it expected to produce underlying income growth of 15 per cent to 20 per cent in the year to March 2026, while its underlying margin would be “around the top of our target range” of 13 per cent to 16 per cent.
It also posted early figures for the year just ended, saying active customers were up 21 per cent to 15.5 million. Cross-border volumes were up 22 per cent to £145 billion, though the margin thinned from 21 per cent to 20 per cent.
Shares in the business ended the day down 48½p, or 5 per cent, at 936½p. They were first traded in London in 2021 in a direct listing at 800p.
The company was launched in 2011 and counts 2,200 employees in Tallinn, Estonia, and 1,000 in London. It is seen as a disruptor, taking market share from traditional banks which make $170 billion in what Kaarmann calls “hidden fees of 2 to 5 per cent” from customers transferring money across borders.
