Commission-free stock trading app Robinhood has been given the greenlight by the Financial Conduct Authority to open for business as a broker in the UK.
The firm has yet to give a date for its formal launch, but is currently hiring for a number of roles in London across compliance, operations, user research, and marketing.
The US-based firm has also appointed fintech veteran Wander Rutgers to lead the UK business. Rutgers has previous form in the startup space from senior roles at savings app plum and money transfer unicorn TransferWise.
Says Rutgers: “Today marks the beginning of a new chapter for Robinhood, and we’re excited to take the first important step towards bringing our investing platform to customers in the UK."
The FCA aproval comes just a week after home-grown unicorn Revolut announced plans to launch its own commission-free stock trading service across Europe, starting with a gradual rollout to a select number of its Metal card customers.