Revolut boss favours New York as primary IPO venue

Revolut's chief executive, Nik Storonsky, says New York is his preferred venue for a primary stock market listing if the digital bank eventually goes public. That is a statement of preference from the person running the company, not a board decision, a filed prospectus or a confirmed date. Storonsky has indicated that any flotation is unlikely before 2028, according to Bloomberg's report of his comments published on 9 October 2026.

The distinction matters for UK readers because Revolut is a British-founded company with a PRA-authorised UK bank and real significance for London's efforts to attract large technology listings. A US-primary structure, even one that also puts shares in London, would be a different outcome for the City than winning the main listing outright.

What Storonsky actually said

In the interview reported by Bloomberg and City AM on 9 October 2026, Storonsky said a US primary listing "was always the target", citing the depth of US market liquidity. He framed this as conditional: Revolut would pursue a US primary venue if it decides to go ahead with a public offering at all. Bloomberg reported that he does not expect an IPO before 2028.

That followed earlier comments reported by Reuters on 17 September 2026, in which Storonsky told the French newspaper Les Echos that Revolut was considering or planning a dual listing involving the London Stock Exchange and Nasdaq. Read together, the two sets of remarks point towards New York as the preferred primary venue, with London as a possible additional venue. Neither establishes that an application to either exchange has been made, and Revolut has not announced a completed board decision to float, a public prospectus or an IPO date.

What a dual listing would actually mean

A dual listing allows a company's shares to be traded in two markets, but the primary venue is normally where most price discovery and regulatory oversight sit. For Revolut, the practical consequences of any dual structure would depend on details that have not been disclosed: the legal form of the listing (the same ordinary shares, depositary receipts, or separate admissions in each market), how shares would be allocated between the two venues, which regulator would act as lead authority, and how the structure would affect eligibility for UK or US stock indices.

Revolut has not specified a US exchange in its most recent remarks. The September report named Nasdaq; the October report referred more generally to a US primary listing. None of the underlying filings — an FCA listing application, a US Securities and Exchange Commission registration, or exchange admission documents — has been identified publicly.

Why Revolut's size makes this significant

Revolut Group Holdings Ltd, registered in the UK with Companies House number 12743269, reported £4.5bn of revenue and £1.7bn of profit before tax for the year ended 31 December 2025, with net profit of £1.3bn, according to its annual report and 24 March 2026 results announcement. The company reported 68.3m retail customers and 767,000 business customers globally at 31 December 2025, and £50.2bn of total customer balances, including balances held with partner institutions.

Separately, Revolut Bank UK Ltd was listed as a PRA-authorised bank by the Bank of England as at 1 October 2026, under firm reference number 981170. That banking authorisation is a distinct regulatory matter from any future listing decision by the parent group and does not depend on where or whether Revolut eventually floats.

A company of this scale choosing a primary listing venue carries weight beyond Revolut itself.

On valuation: a July 2026 secondary share sale was reported by Reuters, citing a source, at an implied $115bn valuation. That figure describes privately negotiated secondary-market pricing, not an IPO valuation or a public market capitalisation, and should not be treated as a floor or target for any future flotation. Revolut's audited 2025 annual report separately confirms a prior $75bn implied valuation from an earlier 2025 fundraising process — a different transaction on a different date, not a contradiction of the later figure.

What London stands to gain, and what it would miss

If Revolut's shares ultimately traded in London as part of a dual listing, that would give the London market a trading line in a large, profitable UK-founded fintech, though whether UK investors and fund managers would have direct access to the same shares depends on details Revolut has not disclosed, including the securities offered, the allocation between venues, and settlement arrangements. It would not, in any case, deliver the full symbolic or market benefit of hosting the primary listing. A primary venue normally remains the main regulatory and price-discovery centre, but Revolut's regulatory and trading arrangements under any dual-listing structure remain unknown.

That matters because UK policymakers and the London Stock Exchange have spent several years trying to make London more competitive for exactly this kind of listing. The FCA's revised UK Listing Rules took effect on 29 July 2024, introducing what the regulator described as a simplified, more competitive regime intended to attract a wider range of companies.

The results so far have been mixed. The FCA's own data, published on 8 October 2026, recorded only two UK commercial-company IPOs on the Main Market in 2026 to date, against 14 in full-year 2025 and 11 in full-year 2024. A separate measure, EY figures reproduced by the FCA, found seven UK IPOs across the Main Market and AIM raising £577m in the first half of 2026 — up 215% on the £183m raised in the first half of 2025. These two figures use different definitions and periods and are not directly comparable.

The FCA also recorded 26 equity issuers delisting from UK markets in 2026 to date, down from 50 in full-year 2025 and 69 in 2024, and put Main Market capitalisation at £4.124tn in 2026 to date, based on London Stock Exchange data it reproduced. Against that backdrop, a US-primary Revolut listing — even with a London leg — would be read by some as a missed opportunity for the City's stated goal of attracting major technology companies, even though it would not amount to Revolut bypassing London altogether.

What remains undecided

No public board resolution approving an IPO has been identified. No prospectus, FCA eligibility submission, SEC registration statement or exchange application has been found. The structure of any dual listing — the shares involved, capital raised in each market, trading currency, settlement, governance and lead regulator — has not been disclosed. Confidential preparatory work could exist without a public announcement, so the absence of these filings does not rule out activity behind the scenes; it simply means none of it is yet verifiable.

There is no confirmed IPO valuation. The reported $115bn figure reflects one secondary transaction's pricing and should not be read as a forecast of what public market investors would pay. Any future flotation, whichever market or markets it uses, would carry the ordinary risks of equity investment: share prices can fall as well as rise.

What to watch next

The next verifiable milestones would be a formal board announcement, a filing with the FCA or SEC, or a published prospectus — none of which has been publicly announced or identified. The appointment of listing advisers would be another signal to watch for. Readers wanting the primary record should follow Revolut's own announcements, the FCA's listings data, and any future SEC filings, rather than treating a chief executive's stated preference as a completed transaction.