Our CEO, Rami Cassis, spoke to City AM about London’s prospects of overtaking New York as the world’s leading fintech hub and offered his assessment.
Rami argued that the latest developments coming out of the White House are ‘tipping the US towards recession’, accelerating London’s climb to become the world’s premier fintech hub. A weaker US would strip away much of the advantage New York currently enjoys.
If that continues, he believes investor appetite and consumer confidence will fall, and the ‘bottom could fall out of the IPO market’, hurting New York’s position. Falling fintech valuations there would quickly erode its pull for founders weighing where to list.
Europe’s relative stability is improving its attractiveness, and London’s central place puts it in a prime position to benefit. Monzo and Starling have both signalled they could list in London, either of which would give the Square Mile a significant boost.
However, he was clear that the journey is an uphill battle: the US has a bigger, deeper consumer market, deeper wells of venture capital and a stronger risk appetite, which are not easy to overcome. Rami warned the UK risks misguiding itself if it assumes those structural advantages can be dislodged quickly.
Read the full article at City AM here.
Featured image courtesy of Alicja Ziajowska via Unsplash.
