US app based online trading broker Public.com is ending its attempts to expand in the UK market.
Although the company has not made a formal announcement on the matter, London news site City A.M. is reporting that Public.com has sent an email to its registered UK users (seen by City A.M.) that the company is suspending operations in the UK as of May 3, 2024.
All UK accounts at Public.com will apparently be closed after April 2024.
A Public.com spokesperson was quoted as telling City A.M.,
“With even more accelerated growth in the US, especially from recent feature launches such as a five per cent high-yield account, corporate bonds and options trading, we decided it’s better to focus on US business for now.”
In late 2022 Public.com stated that it planned to expand internationally in 2023, with the company following up and announcing last July that its trading and investment platform was now available in the UK, as the company’s first step outside the US. At the time, Public.com co-CEO and co-founder Leif Abraham stated that,
“London and the broader UK market has always been the financial epicenter of Europe, so it’s a natural place for Public to start our international expansion. Public has always had European roots: my co-founder and I are both European, and we have a team across multiple European countries, including the UK. We’re excited that now it won’t just be the team in Europe and the UK, but the members we serve.”
Public.com set up its UK entity Public Investing UK Limited in late 2021, and the company became FCA authorised an as Appointed Representative in October 2022, without a full brokerage license. Public.com UK was set up to act as an appointed representative of FCA regulated Khepri Advisors Limited.
The move by Public.com comes soon after its US rival Robinhood launched in the UK last November, following a failed attempt a couple of years earlier, taking its first steps abroad. Robinhood (NASDAQ:HOOD) has also since added EU crypto trading, and is also staffing up in Canada.
