Wise, the unicorn that knows how to read a compass

Another one. Fintech company Wise, the pride of Britain in the post-banking monopoly era, plans to move its main listing to New York. It will keep a foothold in London, but most of the action, and capital, will now take place on the other side of the Atlantic. The announcement of Wise's move to New York sent its shares up 7%… in London.

This is neither a surprise nor an emerging trend: it is an exodus. A slow erosion of London's stockmarket prestige, where IPOs are few and far between. Cobalt Metals has just given up. Even Shein, which has been blacklisted everywhere, has finally turned its back on the City. As for Revolut and Klarna, the European stars, they only have eyes set on America.

Why New York? Because. The official explanation is polite: the company "sees a US listing as a lever to accelerate its mission." Translation: on Wall Street, money flows faster, analysts are better trained, and investors still know how to read a balance sheet without needing an ESG seminar. The new FCA regime, designed to bring companies back into the British fold, is not convincing.

Wall Street still offers something that London struggles to promise: liquidity, visibility, and that strange ability to make people believe that anything is possible, as long as you grow and don't necessarily make money, at least in the beginning. The US market rewards ambition, even when it's excessive. The UK market prefers reassuring dividends and boards of directors that don't rock the boat too much.

For a company like Wise, which aims to go beyond transfers between expatriate friends, remaining confined to a cautious market is masochistic. London will have to continue to explain that its new rules are wonderful. Companies, meanwhile, will continue to ignore them.