(Bloomberg) — Brazilian financial-technology company Nu Holdings Ltd. is considering plans to shift its legal base to the UK, in a move that might mark a serious win in Britain’s push to encourage more tech corporations to maneuver to the country.
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The digital challenger bank has been working with the British government on the plans, which were discussed as a part of a broader set of agreements between Brazil and the UK on Tuesday on the sidelines of the Group of 20 leaders’ summit in Rio de Janeiro, in response to people conversant in the talks.
The change in domicile was not included in a joint announcement by the 2 governments penned on Tuesday because it was still pending approval from the UK’s HM Revenue & Customs authority, in response to two of the people, who asked to not be named discussing private information.
“Nubank repeatedly reviews its corporate legal structure to align with the footprint of its operations,” a spokesperson for the corporate said in an announcement. “Presently, no decision has been made regarding the redomiciliation of Nu Holdings Ltd. or every other legal entities inside our group. As a publicly traded company, we’re committed to transparency and can follow standard communication protocols if and when any such decisions are made.”
Nubank — whose holding company is currently based within the Cayman Islands and is listed on the Latest York Stock Exchange — recently became the most beneficial bank in all of Latin America. While its corporate headquarters would remain in Sao Paulo, Brazil, the change in legal domicile to the UK can be seen as a giant achievement in efforts by British Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s government to draw more technology firms and investment to the country.
Last month, the UK Department for Science, Innovation and Technology said it was opening an office to hurry up approvals of novel technologies. The brand new body, called the Regulatory Innovation Office, is designed to cut back the time entrepreneurs wait to get inventions to market and streamline the regulatory hurdles they have to take care of.
The Labour government has been courting tech corporations and investors because it faces a broad decline in sentiment amongst businesses, after Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves unveiled £40 billion ($50.5 billion) of tax increases in its first budget. Measures included raising the national insurance payroll tax for businesses to fifteen% and reducing the edge at which corporations start paying the tax. The federal government also raised capital gains tax and scrapped the value-added-tax exemption on public-school fees.