
Wise co-founder opposes US listing proposal over voting rights changes
Founded in 2011 by two Estonians, Taavet Hinrikus and Kristo Kaarman, London-listed Wise said in June that it planned to move its primary listing to New York. Shareholders are due to vote on the plans on July 28.
Hinrikus, who has left the company but still owns a 5.1 per cent stake via his company Skaala Investments, criticised Wise's plans in a statement made public on Monday, saying they also included extending voting rights for one group of shareholders.
The plans would entrench "disproportionate power in the hands of a few", including Wise's CEO Kaarman, Skaala said in its statement which was originally sent to Wise and included in a stock exchange filing by Wise on Monday.
Wise has a dual share structure, in which shareholders with "Class B" stocks have more voting power than those with "Class A" stocks. Under Wise's new proposals, these extra rights for "Class B" shareholders would be extended for 10 years - rather than ending in July 2026 as originally planned.
Wise said in its response that while it takes Hinrikus's views seriously, the dual-class share structure is essential for the company's success.
In its proposal documents, Wise said that dual-class share structures "support management's ability to focus and execute on their long-term and often founder-led vision".
Skaala said that the extension "significantly deviates from accepted governance norms" and urged shareholders to reject the proposal.
The dispute could complicate Wise's U.S. plans, which were intended to give it access to the world's largest capital markets while maintaining a secondary listing in London.
Skaala said it was "entirely inappropriate and unfair" to combine the listing location and governance changes into a single vote.
"This approach diminishes shareholder democracy, contradicts good corporate governance and violates Wise's values," it said.
Skaala said that a number of other shareholders are also opposed to the plans, without giving further details.
A spokesperson for Wise said on Monday that shareholders have so far been "overwhelmingly in favour" of the proposal and cited the backing of proxy advisors including ISS, Glass Lewis and PIRC.
Wise said that the process was fair, and that multiple corporate changes can be voted for under one proposal.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


CNA
2 hours ago
- CNA
Meta names ChatGPT co-creator as chief scientist of Superintelligence Lab
NEW YORK :Meta Platforms has appointed Shengjia Zhao, co-creator of ChatGPT, as chief scientist of its Superintelligence Lab, CEO Mark Zuckerberg said on Friday, as the company accelerates its push into advanced AI. "In this role, Shengjia will set the research agenda and scientific direction for our new lab working directly with me and Alex," Zuckerberg wrote in a Threads post, referring to Meta's Chief AI Officer Alexandr Wang, who Zuckerberg hired from startup Scale AI when Meta took a big stake in it. Zhao, a former research scientist at OpenAI, co-created ChatGPT, GPT-4 and several of OpenAI's mini models, including 4.1 and o3. He is among several researchers who have moved from OpenAI to Meta in recent weeks, part of a broader talent arms race as Zuckerberg aggressively hires from rivals to close the gap in advanced AI. Meta has been offering some of Silicon Valley's most lucrative pay packages and striking startup deals to attract top researchers, a strategy that follows the underwhelming performance of its Llama 4 model. Meta launched the Superintelligence Lab recently to consolidate work on its Llama models and long‑term artificial general intelligence ambitions. Zhao is a co-founder of the lab, according to the Threads post, which operates separately from FAIR, Meta's established AI research division led by deep learning pioneer Yann LeCun. Zuckerberg has said Meta aims to build 'full general intelligence' and release its work as open source — a strategy that has drawn both praise and concern within the AI community.


CNA
4 hours ago
- CNA
Wall Street ends higher, dollar firms ahead of a big week for market risk
NEW YORK :U.S. stocks advanced and the dollar firmed on Friday as investors girded themselves for the week ahead, which includes a Federal Reserve policy meeting, crucial corporate results and U.S. President Donald Trump's August 1 deadline for negotiating trade deals. "There's increasing confidence that the economy won't be derailed by tariffs," said Thomas Martin, Senior Portfolio Manager at GLOBALT in Atlanta. "In the meantime, companies are reporting good earnings, the economic numbers are coming in within the range and people want to own stocks. They don't want to miss out." All three indexes closed in positive territory and notched weekly gains. The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq logged fresh record closing highs and the blue-chip Dow ended 0.25 per cent shy of its all-time closing level reached on December 24, 2024. Gold lost some shine, pressured by the dollar as healthy risk appetites lured investors away from the safe-haven metal. With Trump's negotiating deadline just a week away, the U.S. and its trading partners are scrambling to reach trade agreements, with European negotiators heartened by the deal with Japan announced on Tuesday. Intel's shares INTC.O dropped 8.5 per cent after the chipmaker forecast steeper-than-expected quarterly losses and said it had halted or scrapped new factory projects in the U.S. and Europe. More than a third of the companies in the S&P 500 have posted results, 80 per cent of which have beaten estimates, according to LSEG data. Analysts now expect year-on-year second-quarter earnings growth of 7.7 per cent, compared with the 5.8 per cent estimate as of July 1. Four members of the Magnificent 7 group of Artificial Intelligence-related megacap stocks - Amazon, Apple, Meta and Microsoft are on next week's earnings docket, and market participants will scrutinize the companies' conference calls for signs that AI expenditures are beginning to pay off and whether tariff-related uncertainties continue to weigh on forward guidance. U.S. economic data released on Friday showed an unexpected decline in new orders for core capital goods, as companies hold back on big ticket purchases amid the fog of ongoing trade talks. The Fed is expected to convene next week for a two-day monetary policy meeting, which is expected to culminate in a decision to let its federal funds target rate stand in the 4.25 per cent to 4.50 per cent range. The meeting comes at a moment in which Fed Chair Jerome Powell is facing criticism from Trump for not cutting rates. "The Fed is going to do what it's going to do and Powell is going to stay in his job," Martin added. "The economy is doing great, so they really don't need to lower short-term interest rates." "Inflation is still a question, so they're better off not lowering rates if they don't have to," Martin said. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 208.01 points, or 0.47 per cent, to 44,901.92, the S&P 500 rose 25.30 points, or 0.40 per cent, to 6,388.65 and the Nasdaq Composite rose 50.36 points, or 0.24 per cent, to 21,108.32. European shares settled lower as market participants parsed mixed corporate earnings and awaited developments in the U.S.-EU trade negotiations. MSCI's gauge of stocks across the globe rose 0.47 points, or 0.05 per cent, to 941.82. MSCI's gauge of stocks across the globe rose 0.01 points, or 0.00 per cent, to 941.36. The pan-European STOXX 600 index fell 0.29 per cent, while Europe's broad FTSEurofirst 300 index fell 5.79 points, or 0.27 per cent Emerging market stocks fell 10.29 points, or 0.81 per cent, to 1,257.00. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan closed lower by 0.93 per cent, to 661.17, while Japan's Nikkei fell 370.11 points, or 0.88 per cent, to 41,456.23. The yield on benchmark U.S. 10-year notes fell 2.4 basis points to 4.384 per cent, from 4.408 per cent late on Thursday. The U.S. dollar gained strength but remained on course for its biggest drop in a month as investors focused on economic data, tariff negotiations and central bank meetings on the calendar for next week. The dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of currencies including the yen and the euro, rose 0.23 per cent to 97.68, with the euro down 0.11 per cent at $1.1741. Against the Japanese yen, the dollar strengthened 0.44 per cent to 147.65. In cryptocurrencies, bitcoin fell 1.66 per cent to $116,805.28. Ethereum declined 2.52 per cent to $3,645.63. Oil prices softened as investors mulled downbeat economic news and signs of growing supply, despite optimism that U.S. trade deals could boost global economic growth. U.S. crude fell 1.32 per cent to $65.16 per barrel, while Brent fell to $68.44 per barrel, down 1.07 per cent on the day. Gold prices dropped in opposition to the firming dollar, amid signs of progress in U.S.-EU trade talks. Spot gold fell 0.9 per cent to $3,337.66 an ounce. U.S. gold futures fell 1.24 per cent to $3,329.10 an ounce.


CNA
4 hours ago
- CNA
US dollar rises, but on track for weekly drop ahead of Fed, BOJ
NEW YORK :The U.S. dollar advanced on Friday, bolstered by solid economic data that suggested the Federal Reserve could take its time in resuming interest rate cuts, while tariff negotiations showed more clarity that eased some uncertainty in the market. The U.S. currency showed little reaction to data showing new orders for key U.S.-manufactured capital goods unexpectedly fell in June while shipments of those products increased moderately. That suggested business spending on equipment slowed considerably in the second quarter. "The dollar regained some ground the past two days, after being on the defensive earlier in the week ... supported mostly by an encouraging set of U.S. economic data that argues for continued patience at the Fed," said Elias Haddad, senior markets strategist at Brown Brothers Harriman in London. The greenback was set for its biggest weekly drop in a month, ahead of more tariff dialogue and central bank meetings next week, while sterling dipped after softer-than-expected British retail sales data. Both the Fed and the Bank of Japan are expected to hold rates steady at next week's policy meetings, but traders are focusing on the subsequent comments to gauge the timing of the next moves. "We see some room for optimism at the (Fed) meeting," wrote BNP Paribas in a research note. "Economic uncertainty associated with trade policy, while not entirely resolved, has declined markedly." Politics is a factor for both central banks, most dramatically in the U.S., where President Donald Trump once again pressed for lower interest rates on Thursday as he locked horns with Fed Chair Jerome Powell. Brown Brothers' Haddad said the Fed's monetary policy is being "overshadowed by the political pressure to lower interest rates. That's one of the reasons why I think the dollar's upside is limited." The dollar managed to recover a touch against the euro late on Thursday, however, after Trump said he did not intend to fire Powell, as he has frequently suggested he could. "The market relief was based on the fact that Trump refrained from calling for Powell to go, although that was based on Trump's view that Powell would 'do the right thing'," said Derek Halpenny, head of EMEA research at MUFG. He added, however, that "the theme of Fed independence being undermined by the White House will unlikely go away and remains a downside risk for the dollar." BOJ MEETING Falls against the euro and yen leave the dollar index, which measures the dollar against six other currencies, at 97.45, on track for a drop of 0.8 per cent this week, its weakest performance in a month, though it bounced back 0.2 per cent to 97.663 on Friday. Meanwhile, in Japan, though the trade deal signed with the U.S. this week could make it easier for the BOJ to continue rate hikes, the bruising loss for Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba's coalition in upper house elections on Sunday complicates life for the BOJ. The yen was softer, thanks in part to below-expectations Tokyo inflation data, with the dollar last up 0.4 per cent at 147.59 yen, though on course for a weekly 0.9 per cent fall, the lowest since June 23. The euro was flat at $1.1741, but set for a weekly gain of nearly 1 per cent, its best showing in a month. The common currency took some support Thursday from the European Central Bank meeting. Policymakers left the policy rate at 2 per cent, as expected, but the bank's relatively upbeat assessment of the economic outlook and signs that an EU-U.S. trade deal is near caused investors to reassess previous assumptions of one more rate cut this year. [GVD/EUR] In contrast, soft British data is supporting expectations of more Bank of England rate cuts, and causing euro zone bond yields to rise faster than British ones, supporting the euro against the pound. [GB/] The euro rose to 87.43 pence versus sterling on Friday, its highest since April, building on a 0.44 per cent gain the previous day.. It was last up 0.4 per cent at 87.42 pence. Data on Friday showed British retail sales data for June came in slightly below analysts' expectations, albeit rebounding from a sharp drop in May. Figures on Thursday showed business activity grew only weakly in July and employers cut jobs at the fastest pace in five months. Against the dollar, the pound fell 0.6 per cent to $1.3434. Currency bid prices at 25 July 07:31 p.m. GMT Descript RIC Last U.S. Pct YTD High Low ion Close Chang Pct Bid Bid Previous e Session Dollar 97.633 97.451 0.19 per cent -10.01 97.906 97. index per cent 426 Euro/Dol 1.1746 1.1748 -0.01 13.46 per cent $1.176 $1. lar per cent 1 170 4 Dollar/Y 147.56 146.915 0.45 per cent -6.22 per cent 147.89 146 en 5 .84 Euro/Yen 173.33 172.67 0.38 per cent 6.19 per cent 173.61 172 .52 Dollar/S 0.7947 0.7954 -0.08 -12.42 0.7979 0.7 wiss per cent per cent 948 Sterling 1.3436 1.3512 -0.56 7.43 per cent $1.351 $1. /Dollar per cent 341 7 Dollar/C 1.3707 1.3637 0.52 per cent -4.67 per cent 1.3725 1.3 anadian 639 Aussie/D 0.6564 0.6591 -0.39 6.1 per cent $0.659 $0. ollar per cent 9 655 2 Euro/Swi 0.9333 0.9341 -0.09 -0.64 per cent 0.9354 0.9 ss per cent 329 Euro/Ste 0.874 0.8693 0.54 per cent 5.64 per cent 0.8743 0.8 rling 691 NZ 0.6014 0.6029 -0.22 7.51 per cent $0.603 0.6 Dollar/D per cent 7 ollar Dollar/N 10.1581 10.1237 0.34 per cent -10.63 10.182 10. orway per cent 7 115 9 Euro/Nor 11.9327 11.889 0.37 per cent 1.39 per cent 11.946 11. way 886 Dollar/S 9.5126 9.528 -0.16 -13.66 9.5555 9.5 weden per cent per cent 118 Euro/Swe 11.1744 11.2135 -0.35 -2.55 per cent 11.215 11. den per cent 5 166