(Bloomberg) — Brazilian financial technology company Nu Holdings Ltd. is considering plans to shift its legal base to Britain, a move that would mark a major victory in Britain’s bid to encourage more tech companies to move to the country.
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The digital challenger bank has been working with the British government on the plans, which were discussed on Tuesday as part of a wider set of agreements between Brazil and Britain on the sidelines of the Group of 20 leaders’ summit in Rio de Janeiro. for people familiar with the conversations.
The change of residence was not included in a joint announcement from the two governments written on Tuesday because it was still pending approval from the Internal Revenue Service, said two of the people, who asked not to be named at the meeting. discussing private information.
“Nubank continuously evaluates the legal structure of its business to align it with the footprint of its operations,” a company spokesperson said in a statement. “At this time no decision has been made regarding the resettlement of Nu Holdings Ltd. or other legal entities within our group. As a publicly traded company, we are committed to transparency and will follow standard communication protocols if and when such decisions are made.”
Nubank – whose holding company is currently based in the Cayman Islands and listed on the New York Stock Exchange – recently became the most valuable bank in all of Latin America. Although the headquarters would remain in Sao Paulo, Brazil, the change of legal domicile to Britain would be seen as a major achievement in efforts by British Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s government to attract more technology companies and investment to the country to pull.
Last month, the UK Department of Science, Innovation and Technology said it was opening an office to speed up the approval of new technologies. The new body, called the Regulatory Innovation Office, aims to shorten the time entrepreneurs wait to bring inventions to market and streamline the regulatory hurdles they face.
The Labor government has been courting tech companies and investors as it faces a broad downturn in business sentiment after Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves unveiled £40 billion ($50.5 billion) in tax increases in her first budget. Measures included increasing the national insurance payroll tax for companies to 15% and lowering the threshold at which companies will pay the tax. The government also increased capital gains taxes and removed the value-added tax exemption on school fees.
Founded in 2013, Nubank has quickly become one of the best-known fintech companies in the world, with its app on the phones of about 60% of all Brazilian adults. It also has offices in Mexico and Colombia.
While breakneck growth has seen the stock rise by around 60% since the start of the year, some investors have begun to question the quality and high valuation of the loan portfolio. The bank has managed to make a name for itself in Brazil’s conservative banking landscape, in part by making loans to lower-income borrowers, a move largely shunned by the local financial establishment.
–With help from Daniel Carvalho.
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